The life and letters of Maria Edgeworth

THE JLIpE AND LETTERS

OF

MARIA EDGEWORTH
Alo/r/W E<J SIC

AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE

AUTHOR OF " MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE,"
" THE STORY OF TWO NOBLE LIVES "

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME II.

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

(Cbc liitirrsibc press, Cambn&0e

Copyright, 1894,
BY HOTTGHTON, MIFFLINT & CO.

All rights reserved.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.

CONTENTS.

VOLUME H.

1820-1821.

Letters from Maria Edgeworth from Coppet, Pregny, Lausanne,
Lyons, Paris, Calais, Clifton, Bowood, Easton Grey, Edgeworths-
town, to Miss Waller, Mrs. Edge-worth, Mrs. Ruxton, Miss Honora
Edgeworth, Miss Lucy Edgeworth, Miss Ruxton.
Journey through Switzerland : Madame de Montolieu, Dumont,
Duke de Broglie, M. de Stein, Pictet, Madame Necker, M. de Stael
— Return to England through France : Madame de Rumford, the
Delesserts, Madame de la Roche jacquelein — Attack of the " Quar-
terly Review " on the " Memoirs ' ' — Visits to Bowood and Easton
Grey : Lord Lansdowne, Hallam, David Ricardo — Return to
Edgeworthstown — Reading and home life .... pp. 341-371

1821-1822.

Letters from Kenioge, Smethwick Grove, Wycomhe Abbey, Gat-
combe Park, Easton Grey, Bowood, Clifton, Winchester, The
Deepdene, Frognel, Hampstead, Beechwood Park, Mardoaks, to
Mrs. Edgeworth, Miss Honora Edgeworth, Miss Lucy Edgeworth,
Mrs. Ruxton, Miss Ruxton.

Visits in England — Wycombe Abbey : Lord Carrington, Madame
de Stael, and Buonaparte — David Ricardo — Bowood : Lord Lans-
downe, Bowles — Miss Joanna Baillie's : Brodie, Dr. Holland, Lord
Grenville — Anecdotes of Lady Salisbury and Wilberforce — Le
Bas, Sir James Mackintosh, Dumont 372-402

1822.
Letters from London to Mrs. Edgeworth, Mrs. Ruxton.

Life in London — " Frank " — Lady Lansdowne, Lady Elizabeth

IV CONTENTS

Whitbread, Calcott, Mrs. Somerville — Visit to the House of Com-
mons : Peel, Brougham, Vansittart — Mrs. Fry — Almack's — Din-
ners and parties : Sir Humphry Davy, Dr. Holland, Miss Lydia
White — Mrs. Siddons and Sheridan — Jeffrey, Hume, Herschel,
Lady Byron, Randolph — Ticknor on Maria Edgeworth's conversa-
tion 402-430

1822-1823.

Letters from Edgeworthstown, Black Castle, Kinneil, Edinburgh,
Callander, Inverness, Kinross, Abbotsford, to Mrs. Ruxton, Mrs.
O'Beirne, Miss Honora Edgeworth, Miss Lucy Edgeworth, Miss
Ruxton, Mr. Ruxton.

Return to Edgeworthstown — Literary work and reading : " Early
Lessons," sequel to " Harry and Lucy " — Walter Scott and Joanna
Baillie — Death of Lord Londonderry — Visit to Scotland — Edin-
burgh: Evening at Sir Walter Scott's — Sir Walter Scott, Lady
Scott, and Lockhart — A fortnight at Abbotsford . . . 431—464

1823-1830.

Letters from Edgeworthstown, Pakenham Hall, Black Castle,
Bloomfield, to Mrs. and Miss Ruxton, Mrs. Bannatyne, Mrs.
O'Beirne, Miss Honora Edgeworth, Mrs. Edgeworth, Mrs. Stark,
C. S. Edgeworth, Captain Basil Hall, Mr. Bannatyne.
Return to Ireland — Reading and Letters — Mrs. Hemans, Blanco
White, Dr. Holland, Walter Scott — Death of Anna Edgeworth —
Death of Mrs. Barbauld — Visit of Sir Walter Scott to Edgeworths-
town — Visit to Killarney with Scott and Lockhart — " Harry and
Lucy " — Management of the estate — Death of Lady Scott — Visit
from Sir Humphry Davy — " Vivian Grey " and Almack's — Syd-
ney Smith's conversation — Visit from Herschel — Miss Mary Sneyd
settles at Edgeworthstown — Illness and recovery — General inter-
ests and life at Edgeworthstown 465-515

1830-1831.

Letters from London to Miss Ruxton, Miss Honora Edgeworth,

Mrs. Edgeworth, Mrs. R. Butler.

Death of Mrs. Ruxton — Visit to London : Lord Lansdowne,
Joanna Baillie, Sir Henry Holland, Southey — Talleyrand — Duch-
ess of Wellington, Sir James Mackintosh — Death of Mr. Hope —
Macaulay — Visit to the Herschels : Sir Joshua Reynolds's work —

CONTENTS V

Rogers, Lord Mahon — Death of the Duchess of Wellington —
Scene in the House of Lords — Opera and plays .... 515-538

1831-1848.

Letters from Edgeworthstown, Rosstrevor, Pakenhara Hall, Dun-
moe Cottage, Lough Glyn, Trim, to Captain Basil Hall, Mrs.
Edgeworth, Miss Ruxton, Mrs. R. Butler, Mr. Bannatyne, C.
S. Edgeworth, M. Pakenham Edgeworth, Mrs. Stark, Miss Mar-
garet Ruxton, Mr. and Mrs. Ticknor.

Return to Ireland — Visits in Ireland — Lockhart's "Life" —
" Helen " — Tour in Ireland — Young Sir Walter Scott — Princi-
ples of novel-writing — General election and relations with tenants
— Views on politics — Visit of Mr. Ticknor to Edgeworthstown,
and of Rev. William B. Sprague — Maria becomes real owner of
Edgeworthstown — Home interests — Marriage of Honora Edge-
worth 539-636

1840-1843.

Letters from London, Edgeworthstown, Trim, to Mrs. R. Butler,
Mrs. Edgeworth, Mrs. Beaufort, Miss Margaret Ruxton, Miss Ban-
natyne, Mrs. Francis Beaufort.

Visit to London: Darwin, Dr. Lushington, Macaulay •*- Return
to Edgeworthstown : Distress in Ireland — Mrs. Hall's description
of the family life at Edgeworthstown — Dangerous illness of Maria
Edgeworth — Reading and literary interests : Dickens, Francis Hor-
ner — Marriage of Miss Lucy Edgeworth to Dr. Robinson 636-655

1843-1849.

Letters from London, Warfield Lodge, Collingwood, Edgeworths-
town, Armagh, Trim, to Mrs. R. Butler, Mrs. Edgeworth, Miss
Margaret Ruxton, Lady Beaufort, Mrs. S. C. Hall.
Visit to London — Sydney Smith, Sir Henry Holland, Rogers,
Mrs. Drummond — Opening of the new Houses of Parliament —
Visits in England — Dean Milman, Herschel — Return to Edge-
worthstown — Reading and home interests — The Irish Famine —
"Orlandino" — Death of Maria Edgeworth 656-691

LIFE AND LETTEES

OF

MARIA EDGEWORTH

TO MISS WALLER.

COPPET, September 1, 1820.

I AM sure that you have heard of us, and of all we
have done and seen from Edgeworthstown as far as
Berne ; from thence we went to Thun ; there we took
char-a-bancs, little low carriages, like half an Irish
jaunting-car, with four wheels, and a square tarpaulin
awning over our heads. Jolting along on these vehicles,
which would go over a house, I am sure, without being
overturned or without heing surprised, we went — the
Swiss postilion jolting along at the same round rate up
and down, without ever looking hack to see whether the
carriages and passengers follow, yet now and then turn-
ing to point to mountains, glaciers, and cascades. The
valley of Lauterbrunn is beautiful : a clear, rushing, cas-
cady stream rushes through it ; fine chestnuts, walnuts,
and sycamores scattered through ; the verdure on the
mountains between the woods fresh and bright. Pointed
mountains covered with snow in the midst of every sign
of flowery summer strike us with a sense of the sublime
which never grows familiar. The height of the Stau-
bach waterfall, which we saw early in the morning,
astonished my mind, I think, more than my eyes, look-

VOL. II.

342 MARIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

ing more like thin vapor than water — more like strings
of water ; and I own I was disappointed, after all I had
heard of it.

We went on to the valley of Grindelwald, where we
saw, as we thought two fields off, a glacier to which we
wished to go ; and accordingly we left the char-a-bancs,
and walked down the sloping field, expecting to reach it
in a few minutes, but we found it a long walk — about
two miles. To this sort of deception about distances we
are continually subject, from the clearness of the air, and
from the unusual size of the objects, for which we have
no points of comparison, and no previous habits of esti-
mating. We were repaid for our walk, however, when
we came to the source of the Lutzen, which springs under
an arch of ice in the glacier. The river runs clear and
sparkling through the valley, while over the arch rests a
mountain of ice, and beside it a valley of ice ; not smooth
or uniform, but in pyramids, and arches, and blocks of
immense size, and between them clefts and ravines. The
sight and the sound of the waters rushing, and the solemn
immovability of the ice, formed a sublime contrast.

On the grass at the very foot of this glacier were some
of the most delicious wood-strawberries I ever tasted.

At Interlaken we met Sneyd and Henrica 1 in a very
pleasant situation in that most beautiful country. We
parted on the banks of the lake of Brienz. On this lake
we had an hour's delightful sailing, and put into a little
bay and climbed up a mountain to see the cascade of the
Giesbach, by far the most beautiful I ever beheld, and
beyond all of which painting or poetry had ever given

i Her half-brother, son of the third Mrs. Edgeworth, and his wife
Henrica Broadhurst.

1820] TO MISS WALLER 343

me any idea. Indeed, it is particularly difficult, if not
absolutely impossible, to give a representation of cascades
which depend for effect upon the height from which they
fall, the rush of motion, the sparkling and foam of the
water in motion, and the magnitude of the surrounding
objects.

After passing the lake of Brienz, we came to the far-
famed valley of Meyringen, which had been much cried
up to us ; but, whether from the usual perverseness of
human nature, or from being spoiled by the luxury of
cascades, valleys, and Alps we had previously seen, we
were disappointed in it, though, to do it justice, it has
nine cascades.

We slept at a wooden inn, and rose at three ; and,
before four, mounted on our horses, set off for the Brunig ;
and after having gone up La Flegere at Chamouni, the
crossing the Brunig was a small consideration. Brava !
brava !

But — something happened to me and my horse; the
result being that I went up the Brunig and down the
Brunig on my two legs instead of on the horse's four,
and was not the least tired with my three hours'
scramble up and scramble down. At the little town of
Sarnin we ate eggs and drank sour wine, and Mr. Moil-
liet, Fanny, and Harriet remounted their horses ; Mrs.
Moilliet, Emily, Susan, and I went in a char-a-banc of
a different construction ; not sitting sideways, but two
phaeton seats, one behind the other, facing the horses.
Such jolting, such trimming from side to side ; but we
were not overturned, and got out at the town of Stanz-
stadt, where, after seeing in the dirtiest inn's dirtiest
room a girl with a tremendous black eye, besides the

344 MARIA EDGEWOETH [SEPT.

two with which nature had favored her, we took boat
again about sunset, and had a two hours' delicious row-
ing across the lake of Lucerne, which I prefer to every
other I have seen. The moon full and placid on the
waters, the stars bright in the deep blue sky, the town
of Lucerne shadowed before us with lights here and
there in the windows. The air became still, and the sky
suddenly clouded over ; thunder was heard ; bright
flashes of lightning darted from behind the mountains
.and across the town, making it at intervals distinctly
visible for a moment. It was dark when we landed,
and we had to pass through two or three streets, ser-
vants, guides, bag, and baggage, groping our way ; and
oh, wretched mortals, went to the wrong place, and
before we could reach the right one, down poured a
waterspout of a shower on our devoted heads and backs.
In five minutes, running as hard as we could, we were
wet through; and Fanny, in crossing the street and
plucking at the guide's bundle for a cloak for me, was
nearly run over, but stood it; and, all dripping, we
reached our inn, Le Cheval Blanc. An hour spent in
throwing off wet clothes and putting on dry — tea,
coffee — bed — bugs, and sleep, nevertheless.

We rejoined our landau and caleche at Lucerne, and
proceeded in them to Zug, where there is a famous con-
vent or Frauenkloster, which escaped being destroyed
during the Revolution, because the abbess and nuns
established a school for the female children of the neigh-
borhood, where they still continue to teach them to
read and work : Madame Gautier had desired us to go
and see it, and to it we walked : rang at the bell, were
told that the nuns were all in the refectory, and were

1820] TO MISS WALLER 345

asked to wait. The nuns' repast was soon finished, and
one came with a very agreeable, open countenance and
fresh, brown complexion, well fed and happy-looking,
becomingly dressed in snow-white hood and pelerine
and brown gown. Bowing courteously, she by signs —
for she could speak neither French nor English — in-
vited us to follow her, and led us through cloister and
passage to the room of the boarders; not nuns, only
there for their education. A pretty Italian girl, with
corkscrew ringlets of dark hair, rose from her pianoforte
to receive us, and spoke with much grace and self-com-
placency Italian-French, and accompanied by way of in-
terpreter our own conductress, who motioned us to the
sitting-room, where nuns and pensioners were embroi-
dering, with silk, cotton, chenille, and beads, various
pretty, ugly, and fantastical, useless things. Luckily,
none were finished at that moment, and their empty
basket saved our purses and our taste from danger or
disgrace.

I had spied in the corner of the Italian interpreter's
apartment a daub of a print of the King and Queen of
France taking leave of their family, with a German in-
scription ; and thinking the Abbe* Edgeworth had a good
right to be in it, and as a kind of German notion of
an abbe* appeared in the print, and something like
Edgewatz in the German words, I put my finger on the
spot, and bade the interpreter tell the nuns and the
abbess, who now appeared, that we were nearly related
to the abbe* Edgeworth, Louis XVI. 's confessor. This
with some difficulty was put into the Italian's head, and
through her into the nuns', and through them, in Ger-
man, into the abbess's superior head. I heard a mistake

346 MARIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

in the first repetition, which ran, no doubt, through all
the editions, viz., that we were proches par ens, not to
the King's confessor, but to the King ! The nuns
opened the whites of their eyes, and smiled regularly
in succession as the bright idea reached them and the
abbess — a good-looking soul, evidently of superior birth
and breeding to the rest, all gracious and courteous in
demeanor to the strangers.

A thought struck me, — or, as Mr. Barrett of Navan
expressed it, " I took a notion, ma'am," — that Fanny
would look well in a nun's dress ; and boldly I went to
work with my interpreter, who thought the request at
first too bold to make ; but I forced it through to nun
the first, who backed and consulted nun the second, who
at my instigation referred in the last appeal to the
abbess, who, in her supreme good-nature, smiled, and
pointed upstairs ; and straight our two nuns carried
Fanny and me off with them up stairs and stairs, and
through passages and passages, to a little nun's room —
I mean a nun's little room — nice with flowers and
scraps of relics and religious prints. The nuns ran to a
press in the wall, and took out ever so many plaited
. coifs and bands, and examined them all carefully as
birthnight beauty would have done, to fix upon one
which was most becoming. Nun the second ran for the
rest of the habiliments, and I the while disrobed Fanny
of her worldly sprigged cambric muslin and straw hat,
which, by the bye, nun the second eyed with a fond
admiration which proved she had not quite forgotten
this world's conveniences. The eagerness with which
they dressed Fanny, the care with which they adjusted
the frontlet, and tucked in the ringlets, and placed the

1820] TO MISS WALLER 347

coif on her head, and pulled it down to exactly the
right becoming sit, was exceedingly amusing. No co-
quette dressing for Almack's could have shown more
fastidious nicety, or expressed more joy and delight at
the toilette's triumphant success. They exclaimed in
German, and lifted up hands and eyes in admiration
of Fanny's beautiful appearance in nun's attire. The
universal language of action and the no less universal
language of flattery was not lost upon me : I really loved
these nuns, and thought of my Aunt Euxton's nuns,
who were so good to her. Down corridors and stairs we
now led our novice, and the nuns showed her how to
hold her hands tucked into her sleeves, and asked her
name ; and having learned it was Fanny, Frances, Sister
Frances, were again overjoyed, because one of them was
named Frances, the other was Agnes. When, between
Sister Agnes and Sister Frances the first, Sister Frances
the second entered the room where we had left the
abbess, Mrs. Moilliet, Emily, and Susan, they did not
know Fanny in the least, and Harriet declared that, at
the first moment, even she did not know her. Mrs.
Moilliet told me she said to herself, " What a very
graceful nun is coming now ! "

After all had gathered round, and laughed, and ad-
mired, the abbess signified to me, through our inter-
preter, that we could do no less than leave her in the
convent with them, and grew so mighty fond of Fanny,
that I was in as great a hurry to get her nun's dress off
as I had been to get it on ; and when I had disrobed
her, I could not think of a single thing to give the poor
nuns, having no pockets, and my bag left in the carriage !
At last, feeling all over myself, I twitched my little gold

348 MARIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

earrings out of my ears, and gave one, and Fanny gave
the other, to the two nuns ; and Sister Frances and Sis-
ter Agnes fell on their knees to pray for and thank us.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

PREGNT, September 6, 1820.

The account of the loss of the three guides at Cha-
mouni is, alas ! too true : three perished by stepping
into the new-fallen snow which covered the crevasses ;
one was Joseph Carrier, who was Harriet's guide. Mrs.
Marcet has just told us that, at a breakfast given by M.
Prdvost to M. Arago, and many scientific and literary
people, a few days after the accident, parties ran high on
this as on all affairs : some said it was all M. Hamel's
fault ; some, that it was all the guides' own fault. One
said he wished one of the English gentlemen who was
of the party was present, for then they should know
the truth. At this moment the servant announced a
stranger, " Monsieur Rumford," the name sounded like
as the man pronounced it, and they thought it was
Count Rumford come to life. M. Provost went out and
returned with Mr. Dornford, one of the Englishmen who
had been of Dr. Hamel's party, who came, he said, to
beg permission to state the plain facts, as he heard they
had been told to Dr. Hamel's disadvantage. He, Dr.
Hamel, Mr. Henderson, and M. Lelleque, a French
naturalist, set out : the guides had not dissuaded them
from attempting to go up Mont Blanc — only advised
them to wait till a threatening cloud had passed. When
it was gone, they all set out in high spirits ; the guides
cutting holes in the snow for their feet. This it is sup-
posed loosened the snow newly fallen, and a quantity

1820] TO MRS. EUXTON 349

poured down over their heads. Mr. Dornford had pushed
on before the guides ; he shook off the snow as it fell,
and felt no apprehension : on the contrary, he laughed
as he pawed it away, and was making his way on, when
he heard a cry from his companions, and looking hack
he saw some of them struggling in the snow. He helped
to extricate them, saw a point moving in the snow, went
to it, and pulled out Marie Coutay, one of the guides :
he was quite purple, but recovered in the air. Looked
round — two guides were missing : looked for them in
vain, but saw a deep ravine covered with fresh snow,
into which they must have fallen.

TO MBS. RUXTON.

LAUSANNE, September 14, 1820.

Ages ago I promised myself the pleasure of dating a
letter from Lausanne to my dear aunt, and now that I
am at the place of which I have so often heard her
speak, which I have so often wished to see, I can hardly
believe it is not a dream. A fortnight ago we were here,
returning from our tour through les Petits Cantons ; but
at that time we could not enjoy anything, as we had
heard from Sneyd, whom we met at Interlaken, of
Lucy's l terrible illness. What a comfort to my mother
to think that she was saved by your Sophy's steadiness
and presence of mind, and by Lovell's decision and
Crampton's skill and kindness !

Yesterday we began our tour round the lake of

Geneva — Dumont, Fanny, Harriet, and I — in one of

the carriages of the country, a mixture of a sociable and

an Irish jingle, with some resemblance to a hearse, from

l Daughter of the fourth Mrs. Edgeworth.

350 MARIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

a covered top on iron poles, which keeps off the sun. It
was late when we arrived here, and so dark, with only a
few lamps strung across the street here and there, we
could scarcely see the forms of the great hlack horses
scrambling and struggling up the almost perpendicular
streets. How could you ever have home it, my dear
aunt ? You must have been in perpetual fear of your
life ! Lord Bellamont's description of the county of
Cavan — all acclivity and declivity, without any inter-
vention of horizontality — I am sure applies to Lausanne.
I am sure traveled horses from all parts of the world say
to each other when they meet in the stable, " Were you
ever at Lausanne ? Don't you hate Lausanne ? How
could men build a town in such a place ? "What asses !
And how provoking, while we are breaking our backs, to
hear them talking of picturesque beauty ! I should like
to see how they would look if we let them slip, and roll
down these picturesque situations ! "

Lausanne is, nevertheless, so full that we could
scarcely find room ; and after Dumont and his servant
had gone back and forward to Le Fauqon, the Lion d'Or,
Les Balances, etc., etc., all full to the garrets, we were
thankful at finding ourselves in the worst inn's worst
room, where, however, the beds were clean and good.
We are not grumblers, so we drank coffee and were all
very happy ; and while the rooms were preparing Du-
mont read to us a pretty little French piece, " Le faux
Savant"!

September 15.

Our first object this morning was to see Madame de
Montolieu, the author of " Caroline de Lichfield," to whom
I had a letter of introduction. She was not at Lausanne,

1820] TO MRS. RUXTON 351

we were told, but at her country house, Bussigny, about
a league and a half from the town. We had a delicious
fine morning, and through romantic lanes and up and
down hills, till we found ourselves in the middle of a
ploughed field, when the coachman's pride of ignorance
had to give up, and he had to beg his way to Bussigny,
a village of scattered Swiss cottages high upon rocks,
with far-spreading prospects below. In the court of the
house which we were told was Madame de Montolieu' s
we saw a lady, of a tall, upright, active-looking figure,
with much the appearance of a gentlewoman; but we
could not think that this was Madame de Montolieu,
because for the last half-hour Dumont, impatient at our
losing our way, had been saying she must be too old to
receive us. " She was very old thirty years ago ; she
must be quatre-vingt, at least : " at last it came to
quatre-vingt-dix. This lady did not look above fifty.
She came up to the carriage as it stopped, and asked
whom we wished to see. The moment I saw her eyes,
I knew it was Madame de Montolieu, and stooping down
from the open carriage I put into her hand the note of
introduction and our card. She never opened the note,
but the instant her eye had glanced upon the card, she
repeated the name with a voice of joyful welcome. I
jumped out of the carriage, and she embraced me so
cordially, and received my sister so kindly, and M. Du-
mont so politely, that we were all at ease and acquainted
and delighted before we were halfway upstairs. While
she went into the ante-chamber for a basket of peaches,
I had time to look at the prints hung in the little draw-
ing-room : they had struck me the moment we came in
as scenes from " Caroline de Lichfield." Indifferent, old-

352 MARIA EDGEWORTH . [SEPT.

fashioned, provoking figures, Caroline and Count Wai-
stein in the fashions of thirty years ago.

When Madame de Montolieu returned, she bade me not
look at them ; " but I will tell you how they came to
be here." They had been given to her by Gibbon : he
was the person who published " Caroline de Lichfield."
She had written it for the entertainment of an aunt who
was ill : a German story of three or four pages gave her
the first idea of it. " I never could invent : give me a
hint, and I can go on and supply the details and the
characters." Just when " Caroline de Lichfield " was
finished, Gibbon became acquainted with her aunt, who
showed it to him: he seized upon the MS., and said
it must be published. It ran in a few months through
several editions ; and just when it was in its first vogue,
Gibbon happened to be in London, saw these prints, and
brought them over to her, telling her he had brought her
a present of prints from London, but that he would only
give them to her on condition that she would promise to
hang them, and let them always hang, in her drawing-
room. After many vain efforts to find out what manner
of things they were, Gibbon and curiosity prevailed ; she
promised, and there they hang.

She must have been a beautiful woman : she told me
she is seventy : fine, dark, enthusiastic eyes, a quickly
varying countenance, full of life, and with all the warmth
of heart and imagination which is thought to belong only
to youth.

We went into a wooden gallery reaching from one side
of the house to the other, at one end of which was a
table, where she had been writing when we arrived.
We often took leave, but were loth to depart. Dumont

1820] TO MRS. RUXTON 353

luckily asked if she could direct us to a fine old chateau
in the neighborhood, which we had been told was partic-
ularly well worth seeing — Viernon. " It is my bro-
ther's," she said, and she would go with us and show it.
The carriage was sent round to the highroad, and we
went by a walk along a river, romantically beautiful.
Just as we came to a cascade and a wooden bridge, a
little pug dog came running down, and the Baron
and Madame de Polier appeared. Madame de Montolieu
ran on to her brother, and explained who we were.
Madame is an Englishwoman, and, to my surprise, I
found she was niece to my father's old friend, Mr.
Mundy, of Markeaton. We were all very sorry to part
with Madame de Montolieu; however, we returned to
Lausanne, and Dumont in the evening read out "Le
Somnambule " — very laughable when so well read.

PREGNY, September 20.

Next day, beautiful drive to Vevay, as you know.
After visiting Chillon, where Lord Byron's name and
coat of arms are cut upon Bonnivard's pillar, I read the
poem again, and think it most sublime and pathetic.
How can that man have perverted so much feeling as
was originally given to him !

Have you been at St. Maurice ? If you have not, I
cannot give you an idea of the surprise and delight we
felt at the first sight of the view going down through the
archway ! • But what a miserable town ! After Fanny
had sketched from the window of the inn a group of chil-
dren, we finished our evening by hearing Dumont read,
incomparably well, " Les Chateaux d'Espagne." In the
night we were awakened by the most horrible female

354 MARIA EDGE WORTH [SEPT.

voice, singing, or rather screeching, in the passage — the
voice of a person having a goitre, and either mad or
drunk. There had been a marriage of country people in
the house, and this lady had drunk a little too much.
We heard Dumont's door open, and he silenced or drove
her away.

Next morning we went on part of the Simplon route
which Buonaparte made to St. Gingulph, where we spent
some hours on the lake. Dumont told us he had been
there with Rogers, who was so delighted with its beauty,
that instead of one he spent six days there.

Not having met the Moilliets as expected at St.
Maurice, we became very anxious about them ;. but upon
our arrival at Pregny next day, found them all very
quietly there. Mrs. Moilliet's not being very well kept
them at home. Nothing can be kinder than they are
to us.

We dined, two days after our return to Pregny, at
Coppet : the Duke and Duchess de Broglie are now there,
and we met M. de Stein,1 a great diplomatist, and M.
Pictet Deodati, of whom Madame de Stae'l said, if one
could take hold of Pictet Deodati's neckcloth, and give
him one good shaking, what a number of good things
would come out !

' MALAGNT, DB. MARCET'S, September.

We came here last Friday, and have spent our time
most happily with our excellent friend Mrs. Marcet.
His children are all so fond of Dr. Marcet, we see that
he is their companion and friend. They have all been
happily busy in making a paper fire-balloon, sixteen feet
in diameter, and thirty feet high. A large company
iCarl, Baron Stein, the Minister of Frederick William IV. of Prussia.

1820] TO MRS. RUXTON 355

were invited to see it mount. It was a fine evening.
The balloon was filled on the green before the house.
The lawn slopes down to the lake, and opposite to it
magnificent Mont Blanc, the setting sun shining on its
summit. After some heart-beatings about a hole in the
top of the balloon, through which the smoke was seen to
issue, — an evil omen, < — it went up successfully. The
sun had set, but we saw its reflection beautifully on one
side of the balloon, so that it looked like a globe half ice,
half fire, or half moon, half sun, self-suspended in the
air. It went up exactly a mile. I say exactly, because
Pictet measured the height by an instrument of a new
invention, which I will describe when we meet. The
air here is so clear, that at this height we saw it dis-
tinctly.

M. Pictet de Rochemont, brother to our old friend,
has taken most kind pains to translate the best passages
from my father's " Memoirs " for the " Bibliotheque Uni-
verselle." We were yesterday at his house with a large
party, and met Madame Necker de Saussure — much
more agreeable than her book. Her manner and figure
reminded us of our beloved Mrs. Moutray : she is deaf,
too, and she has the same resignation, free from sus-
picion, in her expression when she is not speaking, and
the same gracious attention to the person who speaks to
her.

CHATEAU DE COPPET, September 28, 8 A.M.

We came here yesterday, and here we are in the very
apartments occupied by M. Necker, opening into what
is now the library, but was once that theatre on which
Madame de Stae'l used to act her own " Corinne."
Yesterday evening, when Madame de Broglie had placed

356 MARIA EDGE WORTH [SEPT.

me next the oldest friend of the family, M. de Bon-
stettin, he whispered to me, " You are now in the exact
spot, in the very chair where Madame de Stael used to
sit ! " Her friends were excessively attached to her.
This old man talked of her with tears in his eyes, and
with all the sudden change of countenance and twitchings
of the muscles which mark strong, uncontrollable feeling.

There is something inexpressibly melancholy, awful,
in this house, in these rooms, where the thought con-
tinually recurs, Here Genius was ! here was Ambition,
Love ! all the great struggles of the passions ; here was
Madame de Stael ! The respect paid to her memory by
her son and daughter, and by M. de Broglie, is touching.
The little Rocca, seven years old, is an odd, cold, prudent,
old-man sort of a child, as unlike as possible to the son
you would have expected from such parents. M. Rocca,
brother to the boy's father, is here : handsome, but I
know no more. M. Sismondi and his wife dined here,
and three Saladins, father, mother, and daughter. M. de
Stael has promised to show to me Gibbon's love-letters
to his grandmother, ending regularly with "Je suis,
mademoiselle, avec les sentiments qui font le ddsespoir
de ma vie," etc.

M. de Bonstettin — Gray the poet's friend — told me
that in Sweden, about thirty years ago, he saw potatoes
in the corner of a gentleman's garden as a curiosity.
" They tell me, sir," said the gentleman, " that in some
countries they eat the roots of this plant ! " Now they
are cultivated there, and the people have become fond of
them.

With M. de Stael and Madame de Broglie Miss Edge-

1820] TO HONORA EDGEWORTH 357

worth was particularly happy. It had been reported
that Madame de Stael had said of Maria's writings, " que
Miss Edgeworth e'tait digne de 1'enthousiasme, mais
qu'elle s'est perdue dans la triste utiliteV' " Ma mere
n'a jamais dit qa," Madame de Broglie indignantly
declared, " elle e'tait incapable ! " She saw, indeed,
the enthusiastic admiration which Maria felt for her
mother's genius, and she was gratified by the regard and
esteem which Maria showed for her and her brother,
and the sympathy she expressed in their affection for
each other, and in their kindness to their little Eocca
brother.

TO HONORA EDGEWORTH

LYONS, HOTEL DU NORD, October 22, 1820.

Lyons ! is it possible that I am really at Lyons, of
which I have heard my father speak so much. Lyons !
where his active spirit once reigned, and where now
scarce a trace, a memory of him remains. The Perraches
all gone, Carpentiers no more to be heard of, Bons a
name unknown ; De la Verpilliere — one descendant has
a fine house here, but he is in the country.

The look of the town and the fine facades of the prin-
cipal buildings, and the Place de Bellecour, were the
more melancholy to me from knowing them so well in
the prints in the great portfolio, with such a radiance
thrown over them by his descriptions. I hear his voice
saying, la Place de Bellecour and 1'Hotel de Ville —
these remain after all the horrors of the Revolution —
but human creatures, the best, the ablest, the most full
of life and gaiety, all passed away.

It is a relief to my mind to pour out all this to you.

858 MAKIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

I do not repent having come to Lyons ; I should not
have forgiven myself if I had not.

I have been writing to dear Mrs. Moilliet, — nothing
could exceed her kindness and Mr. Moilliet's. Dumont
was excessively touched at parting with us, and gave
Fanny and Harriet " La Fontaine " and " Gresset," and
to me a map of the lake, — of the tour we took so
happily together.

TO MRS. RTJXTON.

PARIS, November, 1820.

Never lose another night's sleep, or another moment's
thought, on the " Quarterly Review," * — I have never
read and never will read it.

I write this merely to tell you that I have at last had
the pleasure of seeing Madame la Comtesse de Vaudreuil,
the daughter of your friend ; she is an exceedingly pleas-
ing woman, of high fashion, with the remains of great
beauty, courteous and kind to us beyond all expectation.
She had but a few days in Paris, and she made out two
for us ; she took us to the Conciergerie to see, by lamp-
light, the dungeon where the poor Queen and Madame
Elizabeth were confined, now fitted up as little chapels.
In the Queen's is an altar inscribed with her letter to
the King, expressing forgiveness of her enemies. Tears
streamed from the eyes of the young Countess de Vau-
dreuil, the daughter-in-law, as she looked at this altar,
and the place where the Queen's bed was. Who do you

1 An article on Maria Edgeworth's Memoirs of her father, full of
doubt, ridicule, misrepresentation, and acrimony. Miss Edgeworth
never read this Review till 1835, when she was induced to do so by a
letter from Mr. Peabody alluding to it. It was then powerless to give
her pain, for its anonymous falsehoods had long fallen into oblivion.

1820] MRS. MARCET TO MARIA 359

think accompanied us to this place ? Lady Beauchamp,
Lady Longford's mother, a great friend of Madame de
Vaudreuil's, with whom we dined the next day, and who
had procured for us the Due de Choiseul's box at the
Theatre Franqais, when the house was to be uncommonly
crowded to see Mademoiselle Duchenois in " Athalie "
avec tons les choeurs, and a most striking spectacle it
was ! I had never seen Mademoiselle Duchenois to per-
fection before.

MES. MAKCET TO MARIA.

MALAGNT, November, 1820.

I cannot make up my mind, my dear friend, to take
my departure * for a still more distant country without
again bidding you adieu. I have hesitated for some
time past, " Shall I or shall I not write to Miss Edge-
worth ? " for I felt that I could not write without
touching on an article in the " Quarterly," — a subject
which makes my blood boil with indignation, and which
rouses every feeling of contempt and abhorrence. I
might indeed refrain from the expression of these sen-
timents, but how could I restrain all those feelings of
the warmest interest, the tenderest sympathy, and the
softest pity for your wounded feelings ? I well remem-
ber the wish you one day so piously expressed to me
that your father could look down from heaven and see
the purity and zeal of your intentions in writing his
" Memoirs ; " I am sure your Heavenly Father does
see them. And I feel that this unjust, unchristian,
inquisitorial attack will not only develop fresh senti-
ments of the tenderest nature in your friends, but also
rally every human being of sound sense around you.
1 Mrs. Marcet was just setting out for Italy.

360 MARIA EDGEWOETH [Nov.

MARIA TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

PARIS, November 15, 1820.

You would scarcely believe, my dear friends, the
calm of mind and the sort of satisfied resignation I feel
as to my father's "Life." I suppose the two years of
doubt and extreme anxiety that I felt exhausted all my
power of doubting. I know that I have done my very
best, I know that I have done my duty, and I firmly
believe that if my dear father could see the whole he
would be satisfied with what I have done.

We have seen Mademoiselle Mars twice, or thrice
rather, in the " Mariage de Figaro " and in the little
pieces of "Le Jaloux sans Amour," and "La Jeunesse
de Henri Cinq," and admire her exceedingly. En petit
comite the other night at the Duchesse d'Escars' a dis-
cussion took place between the Duchesse de la Force,
Marmont, and Pozzo di Borgo, on the bon et mauvais
ton of different expressions, — bonne societe is an ex-
pression bourgeoise, — you may say bonne compagnie
or la haute societe. " Voila des nuances," as Madame
d'Escars said. Such a wonderful jabbering as these
grandees made about these small matters. It put me
in mind of a conversation in the " World " on good
company which we all used to admire.

We have seen a great deal of our dear Delesserts,
and of Madame de Rumford,1 who gave us a splendid
and most agreeable dinner. And one evening with the
Princess Potemkin, who is — take notice — only a

l First married to Lavoisier, the celebrated chemist, then to Count
Rumford, the scientist, from whom she was separated for many years.
She was now again a widow.

1820] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 361

Princess by courtesy, as she has married a Potemkin,
who is not a Prince, and though she was born Princess
Galitzin, she loses her rank by marrying an inferior,
according to Russian and French custom, and they are,
with reason, surprised at our superior gallantry, once a
lady always a lady. But whether Princess or not Prin-
cess, our Madame Potemkin is most charming, and you
may bless your stars that you are not obliged to read a
page of panegyric upon her. She was as much de-
lighted to see us again as we were to see her ; she was
alone with Madame de Noisville, that happy mixture of
my Aunt Fox l and Mrs. Lataffiere. We went from
Madame Potemkin's to Madame d'Haussonville's ; with
her we found Madame de Bouille' playing at billiards,
just in the attitude in which we had left her three
months ago. Saturday I had a bad headache, but re-
covered in the evening ; and Monday we dined at
Madame Potemkin's, where we met her aunt, a Princess
Galitzin, a thin, tall, odd, very clever woman, daughter
to that Prin'ce Shuvaloff to whom Voltaire wrote eter-
nally, and she is imbued with anecdotes of that period,
very well bred, and quick in conversation. She is
always afraid of catching cold, and always wears a velvet
cap, and is always wrapped up in shawls and pelisses in
going from house to house, — a cela pres, a reasonable
woman.

After leaving Madame Potemkin's we went to see —
whom do you think ? Guess all round the breakfast-
table before you turn over the leaf ; if anybody guesses
right, I guess it will be Aunt Mary.

1 Mary, wife of Francis Fox, eldest sister of Mr. Edgeworth and Mrs.
Kuxton.

362 MARIA EDGE WORTH [Nov.

Madame de la Rochejacquelein.1 She had just arrived
from the country, and we found ourselves in a large
hotel, in which all the winds of heaven were blowing,
and in which, as we went upstairs and crossed the ante-
chambers, all was darkness, except one candle which the
servant carried before us. In a small bedroom, well
furnished, with a fire just lighted, we found Madame de
la Rochejacquelein lying on a sofa — her two daughters
at work — one spinning with a distaff, and the other
embroidering muslin. Madame is a large fat woman,
with a broad round fair face, with a most open benev-
olent expression, as benevolent as Molly Bristow's or as
Mrs. Brinkley's ; her hair cut short, and perfectly gray,
as seen under her cap ; the rest of her face much too
young for such gray locks, not at all the hard weather-
beaten look that had been described to us, and though
her face and bundled form and dress all squashed on a
sofa did not at first promise much of gentility, you
could not hear her speak or see her for three minutes
without perceiving that she was well born a'nd well bred.
She had hurt her leg, which was the cause of her lying
on the sofa. It seemed a grievous penance, as she is of
as active a temper as ever. She says her health is per-
fect, but a nervous disease in her eyes has nearly de-
prived her of sight — she could hardly see my face,
though I sat as close as I could go to the sofa.

" I am always sorry," said she, " when any stranger
sees me, parceque je sais que je de'truis toute illusion.
Je sais que je devrais avoir Fair d'une heroine, et surtout
que je devrais avoir 1'air malheureuse, ou dpuisde au
moins — rien de tout cela, hdlas ! "

1 Widow of the Vendean hero.

1820] TO MISS LUCY EDGE WORTH 363

She is much better than a heroine — she is benev-
olence and truth itself. She begged her daughters to
take us into the salon to show us what she thought
would interest us. She apologized for the cold of these
rooms — and well she might ; when the double doors
were opened I really thought ^Eolus himself was puff-
ing in our faces; we shawled ourselves well before
we ventured in. At one end of the salon is a picture
of M. de Lescure, and at the other, of Henri de la
Rochejacquelein, by Gerard and G-irardet, presents from
the King, — fine military figures. In the boudoir is
one of M. de la Rochejacquelin, much the finest of
all — she has never yet looked at this picture. Far
from being disappointed, I was much gratified by this
visit.

TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH.

CALAIS, December 5, 1820.

It is a great satisfaction to me, my dear Lucy, to feel
that we are now so much nearer to you, and that before
I finish this little note we shall be still nearer to you in
the same United Kingdom, so that in eight days we can
have an answer to questions about you ; what a differ-
ence from the three long weeks we used to wait at
Geneva.

And now, my dear Lucy, I must employ you to break
to my mother an important secret. Choose a proper
time for speaking to her on the subject, when she is not
very busy, when her mind is at ease, that is, when you
are pretty well. My aunts and Honora may be in the
room, if you think proper. Begin by saying that I
know both my mother and Lovell are so kind and have

364 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [DEC.

so much confidence in me that I am sure they will not
hastily object to the introduction of a new person into
the family, though they may perhaps feel a little sur-
prised at hearing of my having actually decided upon
such a measure without writing first to consult them. I
have actually brought with me from Paris, and intend,
unless I am actually forbidden, to bring with me to
Edgeworthstown, a French washerwoman. I cannot
expect that Lovell should build a house for her, though
I know he has long had it in contemplation to build a
laundry ; but my little Frenchwoman does not require
a house, she can live in our house, if he and my mother
and my aunts please, and I will engage that she shall
give no sort of trouble, and shall cost nothing. She is
a sourde et muette, an elderly woman with a very good
countenance, always cheerful, and going on with her own
business without minding other people's. She was re-
commended to me by Madame Fra^ois Delessert, and has
lived for some time in their family, much liked by all,
especially by the children, for whom she washed con-
stantly, till one of her legs was hurt, so that she cannot
work now quite as well as formerly. But still she
washed so as to give general satisfaction. Fanny and
Harriet like her washing, and I am sure my aunts will
like it and her very much; and I think she might, till
some other place be found for her, sleep in my mother's
dressing-room.

And here, my dear Lucy, I beg you will pause and
hear what everybody says about this washerwoman and
this plan.

And after five minutes given to deliberation, go on
and say, that if no better place can be found for my

1820] TO MISS RUXTON 365

washerwoman, she may stand on my mother's chimney-
piece ! 1

No more nonsense at present.

TO MBS. EDGEWORTH.

CALAIS, DESSIN'S HOTEL, December 5, 1820.
Coming back to this place, to the same room where
we were seven months ago, the whole seems to me and
to my companions like a delightful dream, but in waking
from Alps, and glaciers, and cascades, and Mont Blanc,
and troops of acquaintance in splendid succession and
visionary confusion, — in waking from this wonderful
dream the sober certainty of happiness remains and
assures us that all which has passed is not a dream. All
our old friends at Paris still more our friends than ever,
and many new ones made. Every expectation, every
hope that I had formed for this journey has been more
than gratified, far surpassed by the reality ; and we re-
turn with thorough satisfaction to our own country,
looking to our dear home for permanent happiness,
without a wish unsatisfied or a regret for anything we
have left behind, except our friends.

TO MISS EUXTON.

MALL, CLIFTON, December 17, 1820.

We have spent a week here with Emmeline,2 and very

happy I am that we were able to give her this pleasure.

Zoe and Emmeline are very nice-looking girls, pleasing

in their manners and affectionate in their dispositions.

We are not, tell my aunt, likely to be drawn into

1 A pretty little French toy given by Madame Franpois Delessert.
8 The eldest of Miss Edgeworth's own sisters, wife of John King, Esq.,
of Clifton.

366 MARIA EDGEWORTH [DEC.

talk or take any part about the Queen, as we know
nothing of her trial. She sent notice to Lady Elizabeth
Whitbread that she would dine with her if she knew the
hour. Lady Elizabeth answered that her hour varied
from five to nine, as it suited her son's convenience.
The Queen took it, as it was meant, as a refusal.

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

BOWOOD, December 20, 1820.

I write to you sitting in the bow (or beau, or bay)
window of the room with yellow furniture with black
stars, into which we were shown by Lady Lansdowne.
Oh, my dear Honora, how everything here reminds me
of you !

Lady Lansdowne's reception of us was most cordial.
She had been out walking, and came to us only half
dressed, with a shawl thrown over her. Lord Lans-
downe is at Bath, at an agricultural meeting. Mr. and
Mrs. Ord and their son, an Eton youth, are here ; Lady
Elizabeth and Captain Fielding — he is very gentleman-
like and agreeable ; Mr. Hallam ; the two Mr. Smiths,
whom you remember, and Mr. Fazakerley — very clever ;
and best of all, Miss Vernon and Miss Fox : she intro-
duced to Fanny and Harriet her niece, Miss Fox, very
handsome and agreeable — not come out.

EASTOM GREY, December 26.

I intended this frank for my mother, but Mr. Bicardo
turned it into Miss instead of Mrs. ; and why I asked
for a frank at all I cannot tell, except for the honor and
glory of having one from David Kicardo. He has been
here one whole day, and is exceedingly agreeable. This

1820] TO MISS HONOR A EDGE WORTH 367

house is delightful, in a beautiful situation, fine trees,
fine valleys, and soft verdure, even at this season : the
library drawing-room with low sofas, plenty of movable
tables, open bookcases, and all that speaks the habits
and affords the means of agreeable occupation. Easton
Grey might be a happy model of what an English
country gentleman's house should be ; and Mrs. Smith's
kind, well-bred manners, and Mr. Smith's literary and
sensible conversation, make this house one of the most
agreeable I ever saw.

At Bowood there was a happy mixture of sense and
nonsense. Lord Lansdowne was talking to me on the
nice little sofa by the fire very seriously of Windham's
life and death, and of a journal which he wrote to cure
himself of indecision of character. Enter suddenly, with
a great burst of noise from the breakfast-room, a tribe of
gentlemen neighing like horses. You never saw a man
look more surprised than Lord Lansdowne.

Eeenter the same performers on all-fours, grunting
like pigs.

Then a company of ladies and gentlemen in dumb-
show, doing a country visit, ending with asking for a
frank, curtsying, bowing, and exit. — " Neighbor."

Then enter all the gentlemen, some with their fingers
on their eyes, some delighted with themselves. — " /."

Then reenter Lord Lansdowne, the two Mr. Smiths,
Mr. Hallam, and Mr. Fazakerley, each with little dolls
made of their pocket-handkerchiefs, nursing and playing
with them. — " Doll."

Exit, and reenter, carrying, and surrounding, and
worshiping Mrs. Ord in an arm-chair. — " Idol."

This does not do for sober reading, but it produced
much laughter.

368 MAKIA EDGE WORTH [MAECH

27th.

We have been at Badminton : magnificent : library
delightful. Here, as at Trentham, a gallery opens into
the chapel, also the village church, and here is a great
curiosity — Raphael's first chalk sketch of the Transfigu-
ration ; that is, of all the figures in the lower part : won-
derfully fine, the woman kneeling, and the boy possessed,
and the man holding him — admirable. Some fine
pictures, too, though not a professed collection. Saw in
the park a fine herd of red deer, the finest, it is said, in
England. How shall I find room to tell you of the
Roman pavements and Roman town found near this
place, much better worth than all I have been penning !
For nonsense I always have time and space.

TO MBS. BUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 21.

The Archbishop of Tuam breakfasted here this morn-
ing, and sat with Lucy in her room: he said he thought
he should be the better all his life for having seen such
an example of patience and resignation in so young a
person. He says he was amused during the Queen's
trial by the sight of the processions in honor of Her
Majesty : the glass manufacturers with their brilliant
wares, ladies in landaus with feathers, the most extraor-
dinary figures ; and the Queen complains that her garden
has been destroyed and all her furniture broken by her
polite visitors.

March 29.

So you like to hear of all our little doings, sb I will
tell you that, about eight o'clock, Fanny being by that

3821] TO MRS. RUXTON 369

time up and dressed, and at her little table, Harriet
comes and reads to me Madame de SeVignd's letters, of
which I never tire ; and I almost envy Fanny and
Harriet the pleasure of reading them for the first time.
After breakfast I take my little table into Lucy's room,
and write there for an hour ; she likes to have me in
her room, though she only hears the scribble, scribble :
she is generally reading at that hour, or doing Margaret's
delight — algebra. I am doing the " Sequel of Frank."
Walking, reading, and talking fill the rest of the day.
I do not read much, it tires my eyes, and I have not yet
finished the " Life of Wesley : " I think it is a most
curious, entertaining, and instructive book. A " Life of
Pitt " by the Bishop of Winchester is coming out : he
wrote to Murray about it, who asked his friends, " Who
is George Winton, who writes to me about publishing
Pitt's < Life ' " ?

April 21.

Inclosed is a letter from our friend the American
Jewess,1 written in a spirit of Christian charity and
kindness which it were to be wished that all Christians
possessed. It has given me exquisite pleasure ; and you
know I never feel great pleasure without instantly wish-
ing that you should share it. Lovell has asked this
good Jewess and her futur to come here, if she should
visit Europe. He is at home now, and kind as ever to
every creature within reach of his benevolence.

We have been reading Fleury's " Memoirs of Napo-
leon." Get it in French : it is very interesting, or we
never could have got through it in the wretched transla-
tion to which we were doomed.

1 Miss Mordecai of Richmond, on Maria's Life of her father.

370 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [Jui/r

Tell Sophy that Peggy Tuite, who turned into Peggy
Mulheeran, has had a dead child. When my mother
said to her brother, " Do not let people crowd in and
heat her room," " Oh, ma'am, sure I am standing at the
door since three in the morning, sentinel, to keep them
out," the tears dropping from his eyes fast on the ground
as he spoke. And all the time the old ould mother
Tuite (who dotes on Mrs. Kuxton-dear) was sitting rock-
ing herself to and fro, and " crying under the big laurel,
that Peggy might not hear her."

You may all praise erysipelas as much as you please,
but I never desire to see or feel it again. Our boy,
Mick Duffy, has been ill with it these ten days. Ho-
nora said to his father, Brian, " How can you be so fond
of Michael, now that he lives with us ; you hardly ever
see him ! " " Oh, how could I but be fond of him, the
crater that sends me every guinea he gets ! "

July 8.

So Buonaparte is dead ! and no change will be made
in any country by the death of a man who once made
such a figure in the world ! He who commanded em-
pires and sovereigns, a prisoner in an obscure island, dis-
puting for a bottle of wine, subject to the petty tyranny
of Sir Hudson Lowe ! I regret that England permitted
that trampling upon the fallen. What an excellent dia-
logue of the dead might be written between Buonaparte
and Themistocles !

Ages ago I sent " Bracebridge Hall " to Merrion
Street for you : have you got it ? Next week another
book will be there for you — an American novel Mrs.
Griffith sent to me, " The Spy ; " quite new scenes and

1821] TO MRS. KUXTON 371

characters, humor and pathos, a picture of America in
Washington's time ; a surgeon worthy of Smollett or
Moore, and quite different from any of their various
surgeons ; and an Irishwoman, Betty Flanagan, incom-
parable.

August 3.

What do you think is my employment out of doors,
and what it has been this week past ? My garden ? no
such elegant thing ; but making a gutter ! a sewer and a
pathway in the street of Edgeworthstown ; and I do
declare I am as much interested about it as I ever was
in writing anything in my life. We have never here yet
found it necessary to have recourse to public contribu-
tion for the poor, but it is necessary to give some assist-
ance to the laboring class ; and I find that making the
said gutter and pathway will employ twenty men for
three weeks.

Did you ever hear these two excellent " Tory " lines
made by a celebrated " Whig " ?

" As bees alighting upon flowerets cease to hum,
So, settling upon places, Whigs grow dumb."

August 8.

We are all in the joy of Francis's 1 arrival : Pakenham
at the teatable has been standing beside him feeding him
with red currants well sugared, and between every cur-
rant he told us, as well as he could, the history of his
journey. "Talbot," Lord Talbot's son, who is his
schoolfellow at the Charterhouse, was so kind as to go
outside, that Francis might have an inside place at night.
He met with so much good nature from first to last in.
1 From Charterhouse ; eldest son of the fourth Mrs. Edgeworth.

372 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Ocx.

his journey, he wonders how people can he so good
natured.

Many of Maria Edge worth's friends in England hav-
ing invited her to visit them, she determined to spend
the winter there, and set out in Octoher with her former
traveling companions, Fanny and Harriet, the two eldest
daughters of the fourth Mrs. Edge worth.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

KENIOGE, October 23, 1821.

We have had a most delightful day, after sleeping well
at Gwindu : we were in the carriage and off hefore the
clock had finished striking six. In an interval of show-
ers in a hright gleam of sunshine we passed Bangor
Ferry : breakfasted nohly. Mr. Jackson, the old, old
man, who some years ago was all pear-shaped stomach,
and stupid, has wonderfully shrunk and revived, and is
walking, alert and civil ; and his fishy eyes hrightened
with pleasure on hearing of his friend, Mr. Lovell. Fine
old waiter, a match in age and civility for the master ;
and a fine old dog, Twig, a match for hoth, and as saucy
as Foster; for Mrs. Twig would not eat toast, unless
huttered, forsooth !

Then on to Mrs. Worthington: excellent, motherly
woman, the Mrs. Brinkley of the slate-quarries. Her
first question ahout you and William won my heart;
she seemed so to have seen into you with that penetra-
tion of the heart, which is full as quick as that of the
head, if there he any difference. She furnished us each
with a pair of Devonshire clogs, that fitted each as if
made for us ; and as young Mr. Worthington was dis-

1821] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 373

appointed by a sore throat of the pleasure of accompany-
ing us, he gave us a note to Mr. Williams at the quarries ;
and good, dear Mrs. Williams, in her white gown and
worked borders, trampoozed with us through the splish
splash to all the yards, and with her master of the works
showed us the sawmills, and the mill for grinding flint,
and for the china works.

Waiving the description of all this, I will not tell you
of the quarries and the glaciers of slates, because I wish
Harriet to write her own fresh account of her first im-
pressions. I feel that she was even more pleased than I
expected ; and I rejoice that this first sight, which I had
promised myself the pleasure of showing her, is secure.

This day's drive through Wales has been charming ;
a few showers, but always at the best time for us. I have
at different times of my life seen Wales at all seasons of
the year, and after all I prefer the autumn view of it.
The withering red brown fern is a great addition of
beauty on the white and gray rocks, and often so resem-
bles the tint of autumn on beech-trees, that you cannot
at a distance tell ferns on the mountains from young
plantations, touched by autumn color.

We have just dined at this delightful inn, where you
and Fanny slept in 1818, kept as I am sure you remem-
ber by two sisters with sweet, good-humored counte-
nances : most active, obliging people. I think the most
discontented of travelers — old growling Smollett him-
self, if he could come from the grave in a fit of the gout
— could not be discontented at this inn. Fanny, Har-
riet, and I have just determined that, if ever we are
reduced to earn our bread, we will keep an inn like
this.

374 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [Ocx.

Lest you should think that all the little sense I had
is gone to nonsense, I must tell you that, during part of
this day, we have been very wise. When there came
ugly hits of the road, Harriet read out Humboldt's fifth
volume ; and I was charmed with it, and enjoyed it the
more from the reflection that Lucy can share this pleas-
ure with us. She has Humboldt, I hope ; if not, pray
get it for her. The account of the venomous flies which
mount guard at different hours of the day is most curi-
ous. Humboldt is the Shakespeare of travelers ; as
much superior to other travelers as Shakespeare is to
other poets. He seems to have at once a vue d'oiseau
of one half of the world, and a perfect recollection of the
other half, so as to bring together from all parts of the
earth, and from all times, observations on the largest
scale, from which he draws the most ingenious and the
most useful conclusions. I will write to Madame Gautier
to beg Humboldt to send to me portraits of the insects
which appear on the Orinoco at different hours of the
day and night, by which the natives mark the hours :
,it will make a fine contrast to the Watch of Flora.

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

SMETHWICK GROVE, October 25, 1821-

Here we are, my dear Honora, once more at the dear,
hospitable Moilliets' ; Emily making tea at the same
well-furnished board, with her near-sighted, beautiful
eyes picking her way among the cups.

We missed, by not arriving last night, a Frenchman
who has been seventeen years learning to play on the
flute, and cannot play, and who has been ten years
learning to speak English, and yet told Mrs. Moilliet

1821] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 375

that he had a letter to Lord Porcelain, to whom his
mother is related, meaning the Duke of Portland. He
left this, determined to see the residence of " Lord Mal-
brouke." Mrs. Moilliet endeavored to put him right,
and to put the song, "Va-t-en Malbrouke " out of his
head ; but he quoted it with the authority of an old
legend. "Blenheim," Mr. Moilliet told him, was the
name of the Duke of Marlborough's place. " Ah, oui,
yes; Blenheim, I know that is the inn." He would
have " Malbroke " as the name of the place.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

WYCOMBE ABBEY, October 30, 1821.

We spent two days instead of one at Smethwick.
Nothing could be kinder than the Moilliets were to us ;
nevertheless, as dearest friends must part, we parted
from them, and had a delightful drive to Woodstock.
Fanny and Harriet will tell you of Blenheim ; they were
pleased, and you may be sure I was happy. At Oxford
by twelve : found letter from Lord Carrington — most
punctual of men — appointing the 29th. But no letter
from Mr. Russell : sent the porter with note to him :
"Mr. Russell gone to see his brother at the Charter-
house." Porter trudged again with two notes, one to
Tom Beddoes1 — "not come up this term:" another
note to Mr. Biddulph — most civil and best of College
cicerones : arrived almost as soon as the porter returned
with his " very happy ; " and he walked us about to all
those halls and gardens which we had not seen before.
Balliol and University gardens beautiful : at Corpus
Christi beautiful altar-piece. Rested at Mr. Biddulph's
1 Her nephew.

376 MARIA EDGE WORTH [Nov.

most comfortable rooms at Maudlin : we went to Even-
ing Service in the chapel : going in from daylight,
chapel lighted with many candles : dim light through
brown saints in the windows : chanting good, anthem
very fine : two of the finest voices I ever heard, one of
a young boy. Good tea at Tetsworth : amused ourselves
next morning reading like ladies, and watching from
our gazabo window the arrival and departure of twelve
stage-coaches, any one of which would have been a study
for Wilkie, besides the rubbing down of a horse with a
besom : at first we thought the horse would have been
affronted — no, quite agreeable. The dried flakes of
yellow mud, first besomed and then brushed, raised such
a dust, that in the dust, man and horse were lost.

Arrived here just at dressing-time. Lord Carrington
had asked the Lushingtons and Dr. Holland — can't
come. Count and Countess Ludolf expected to-morrow :
he is ambassador from Sicily. Fanny says you and she
met them at Lady Davy's.

TO MBS. RUXTON.

WTCOMBE ABBEY, November 2, 1821.

It is impossible to be kinder than Lord Carrington is
to us : he wrote to invite everybody that he thought we
should like to meet. We have had Mr. Wilberforce for
several days, and I cannot tell you how glad I am to
have seen him again, and to have had an opportunity of
hearing his delightful conversation, and of seeing the
extent and variety of his abilities. He is not at all
anxious to show himself off: he converses, he does not
merely talk. His thoughts flow in such abundance, and
from so many sources, that they often cross one another ;

1821] TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 377

and sometimes a reporter would be quite at a loss. As
he literally seems to speak all his thoughts as they occur,
he produces what strikes him on both sides of any ques-
tion. This often puzzles his hearers, but to me it is a
proof of candor and sincerity ; and it is both amusing
and instructive to see him thus balancing accounts aloud.
He is very lively, and full of odd contortions : no mat-
ter. His indulgent, benevolent temper strikes me par-
ticularly : he makes no pretension to superior sanctity or
strictness. He spoke with much respect and tenderness
for my feelings, of my father, and of the " Life."

We have had, besides, Mr. Manning and his son, very
unaffected and agreeable ; and Mr. Abel Smith, a nephew
of Lord Carrington's ; and Mr. Hales, an old bachelor
diplomatist, who told me the name which the Abbe* de
Pradt gave to Buonaparte — Jupiter-Scapin. Does not
this name contain a volume ?

TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH.

WYCOMBE ABBEY, November 4, 1821.

God bless Mr. King ! My dear Lucy, we have the
best hopes now that your admirable patience and forti-
tude will be rewarded, and soon. We regretted the
three quarters of an hour Mr. King might have spent
with you which were wasted at the coach-office, but
these are among the minnikin miseries of human life.
You must often wonder how people in health, and out
of pain, and with the use of their limbs and all their
locomotive faculties, can complain of anything. But
man is a grumbling animal, not woman.

We are reading Madame de Stael's "Dix Anndes
d'Exil " with delight. Though there may be too much

378 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

egotism, yet it is extremely interesting ; and though she
repeats too often, and uses too many words, yet there are
so many brilliant passages, and things which no one but
herself could have thought or said, that it will last as
long as the memory of Buonaparte lasts on earth. Pray
get it and read it ; not the plays or poetry which make
up the last volume — why will friends publish all the
trash they can scrape together of celebrated people ?

Mr. Hales, my dry diplomatist, tells me that Madame
de Stae'l, he was assured by the Swedish minister, pro-
voked Buonaparte, by intriguing to set Bernadotte on the
throne of France, and that letters of hers on this subject
were intercepted. You will not care much about this,
but you may tell it to some of your visitants, who will
be in due time as full of Madame de Stael's "Dix
Annies d'Exil " as I am at this moment.

Here is an old distich which my dry diplomatist came
out with yesterday at dinner, on the ancestor of Hamp-
den. The remains of the Hampden estate are in this
neighborhood, and as we were speaking of our wish to
see the place in which the patriot lived, Mr. Hales
observed that it is curious how the spirit of dislike to
kings had run in the blood of the Hampdens some cen-
turies before Charles's time : they lost three manors in
this country, forfeit for a Hampden having struck the
Black Prince.

" Tring, Wing, and Ivanhoe
Old Hampden did forego,
For striking the Black Prince a blow."

When this is read you will say he deserved to lose
three manors for striking such a Prince.

Besides two spacious bed-chambers and a dressing-

1821] TO MRS. EDGE WORTH 379

room, munificent Lord Carrington would insist upon our
having a sitting-room to ourselves, and we have one that
is delightful: windows down to the ground, and pros-
pect — dark woods and river, so pretty that I can scarcely
mind what I am saying to you.

Yesterday arrived a Mr. Hay, very well informed about
mummies and Egypt, talks well, and as if he lived with
all the learned and all the fashionable in London : his
account of the unrolling of a mummy which he lately
saw in London was most entertaining. All the folds of
the thinnest linen which were unwound were laid more
smoothly and dexterously, as the best London surgeons
declared, than they can now apply bandages : they stood
in amazement. The skin was quite tough, the flesh per-
fect ; the face quite preserved, except the bridge of the
nose, which had fallen in. Count Ludolf, who has been
a fine painter in his day, says he has used mummy pitch,
or whatever it is in which mummies are preserved, as a
fine brown paint, like bistre, "only bitter to the taste
when one sucks one's brush."

Mr. Hay, I find, is private secretary to Lord Melville.
It is too much to have a Mr. Hales and a Mr. Hay.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

GATCOMBE PARK, November 9, 1821.

We arrived here on Wednesday evening to tea —
beautiful moonlight night. At the gate the first opera-
tion was to lock the wheel, and we went down, down a
hill, not knowing where it would end or when the house
would appear ; that it was a beautiful place was clear
even by moonlight. Hall with lights very cheerful —
servants on the steps. Mr. Eicardo very glad to see

380 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

us. Mrs. Bicardo, brilliant eyes and such cordial open-
hearted benevolence of manner, no affectation, no thought
about herself.1 "My daughter-in-law, Mrs. Osman Bi-
cardo," a beautiful tall figure, and fine face, fair, and
a profusion of light hair. Mr. Bicardo, jun., and two
young daughters, Mary, about fifteen, handsome, and a
child of ten, Bertha, beautiful.

I was frightened about Fanny, tired and giddy after
the journey ; however, her first answer in the morning,
" much better," set my heart at ease. A very fine day,
all cheerful, a delightfully pleasant house, with uphill
and downhill wooded views from every window. Bides
and drives proposed. I asked to see a cloth manufactory
in the neighborhood. Mrs. Osman Bicardo offered her
horse to Fanny, and Mr. Osman rode with her. Mr.
Bicardo drove me in his nice safe and comfortable phae-
ton ; Harriet and Mrs. Osman in the seat behind. The
horses pretty and strong, and, moreover, quiet, so that
though we drove up and down hills almost perpendicu-
lar, and along a sort of Rodborough Siemplon, I was not
in the least alarmed. Mr. Bicardo is laughed at, as
they tell me, for his driving, but I prefer it to more
dashing driving. Sydney Smith, who was here lately,
said that " a new surgeon had set up in Minchin Hamp-
ton since Mr. Bicardo has taken to driving."

We had delightful conversation, both on deep and
shallow subjects. Mr. Bicardo, with a very composed
manner, has a continual life of mind, and starts perpet-
ually new game in conversation. I never argued or dis-

1 David Ricardo (1772-1823), long M. P. for Portarlington, a great
speaker and writer on political economy. He married Catherine,
daughter of W. T. St. Quentin of Seampston Hall, York.

1821J TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 381

cussed a question with any person who argues more
fairly or less for victory and more for truth. He gives
full weight to every argument brought against him, and
seems not to be on any side of the question for one
instant longer than the conviction of his mind on that
side. It seems quite indifferent to him whether you
find the truth, or whether he finds it, provided it be
found. One gets at something by conversing with him ;
one learns either that one is wrong or that one is right,
and the understanding is improved without the temper
being ever tried in the discussion ; but I must come to
an end of this letter. Harriet has written to Pakenham
an account of the cloth manufactory, which Mr. Stephens
explained admirably, and we are going out to see Mrs.
Eicardo's school ; she has 130 children there, and takes
as much pains as Lovell.

November 10.

Yesterday evening a Mr. and Miss Strachey dined
here : he pleasing, and she with a nice, pretty-shaped,
small head like Honora's, very agreeable voice. Mr.
and Mrs. Smith of Easton Grey had come, and there
was a great deal of agreeable conversation. An English
bull was mentioned: Lord Camden put the following
advertisement in the papers : " Owing to the distress of
the times Lord Camden will not shoot himself or any of
his tenants before the 4th of October next."

Much conversation about cases of conscience, whether
Scott was right to deny his novels. Then the Effie
Deans question, and much about smugglers. Lord Car-
rington says all ladies are born smugglers. Lady Car-
rington once staying on the coast of Devonshire wrote to

382 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

Lord Carrington that his butler had got from a wreck a
pipe of wine for £36, and that it was in her cellar.
" Now," said Lord Carrington to himself, " here am I in
the king's service ; can I permit such a thing ? No."
He wrote to the proper excise officers and gave them
notice, and by the same post to Lady Carrington, but he
did not know that taking goods from a wreck was a fel-
ony. As pale as death the butler came to Lady Carring-
ton. "I must fly for it, my lady, to America." They
were thrown into consternation ; at last they staved the
wine, so that when the excise officers came nothing was
to be found. Lord Carrington of course lost his £36
and saved his honor. Mr. Eicardo said he might have
done better by writing to apprise the owners of the ves-
sel that he was ready to pay a fair price for it, and the
duties.

TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH.

GATCOMBE PARK, November 12.

We are perfectly happy here ; delightful house and
place for walking, riding, driving. Fanny has a horse
always at her command. I a phaeton and Mr. Eicardo
to converse with. He is altogether one of the most
agreeable persons, as well as the best informed and most
clever, that I ever knew. My own pleasure is infinitely
increased by seeing that Fanny and Harriet are so much
liked and so very happy here.

In the evenings, in the intervals of good conversation,
we have all sorts of merry plays. Why, when, and
where : our words were — Jack, Bar, Belle, Caste,
Plum, the best.

1821] TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 383

We acted charades last night. Pillion excellent.
Maria, Fanny, and Harriet, little dear, pretty Bertha,
and Mr. Smith, the best hand and head at these diver-
sions imaginable. First we entered swallowing pills
with great choking — pill. Next on all-fours, roaring
lions; Fanny and Harriet's roaring, devouring lions
much clapped. Next Bertha riding on Mr. Smith's
back — pillion.

Coxcomb — Mr. Smith, Mr. Eicardo, Fanny, Harriet,
and Maria crowing. Ditto, ditto, combing hair. Mr.
Eicardo, solus, strutting, a coxcomb, very droll.

Sinecure — not a good one.

Monkey — very good. Mr. Eicardo and Mr. Smith
as monks, with colored silk handkerchiefs, as cowls : a
laughable, solemn procession. Eeenter with keys. Mr.
Eicardo as monkey.

Fortune-tellers — the best : Fanny as Fortune ; un-
luckily we forgot to blind her, and she had only my
leather bag for her purse, but nevertheless, she made a
beautiful graceful Fortune, and scattered her riches with
an air that charmed the world. 2d scene : Mr. Smith
and Harriet tellers of the house — " the ayes have it."
Fanny, Maria, and Harriet, fortune-tellers; much ap-
proved.

Love-sick — Bertha, with a bow made by Mr. Smith
in an instant, with a switch and red tape and a long
feathered pen. Bertha was properly blind and made an
irresistible Cupid; she entered and shot, and all the
company fell — Love. 2d : Harriet, Mr. Smith, and
Maria, all very sick. 3d : Fanny, a love-sick young
lady. Maria, her duenna, scolding, and pitying, and
nursing her with a smelling-bottle.

3S4 MAMA EDGEWOBTH [Nov.

Firewater — Idk: Harriet and I acted alarm of fire,
and alarmed Mr. Eicardo so well — he was going to call
for assistance. 2d : I was an epicure, and eating always
succeeds on the stage. 3d: Harriet devoured lighted
spills to admiration, and only burnt her lip a little.

In " conundrum," Mrs. Osman was a beautiful nun ;
she is a charming creature, most winning countenance
and manner, very desirous to improve herself, and with
an understanding the extent and excellence of which I
did not at first estimate.

TO MBS. RT7XTOX.

EASTOS GRKT. Xoranber 22, 182L

Lady Catherine Bisset came with her two little nieces
to call upon us, and Fanny won little Lady Mary-Rose's
heart, partly by means of some Madeira and Portuguese
figures from the chimney-piece, which she ranged on the
table for her amusement, and partly by a whiz-gig, which
fanny plays to admiration.

And what is a whiz-gig ? If yon do not know, you
must wait till I send you one.

Lady Catherine, when no one was seeing or looking,
laid her hand on my arm most affectionately, and look-
ing up in my face, said, " Do you know I have been
half my life trying to be your good French governess.
I IOTC her."

We went to see her at her cottage, near her brother,
Lord Suffolk's, and saw many curiosities from Ceylon,
made entertaining to us by the comments and anecdotes
of Captain Fenwick, who had been years at Ceylon. On
our return we stopped to see Malmesbury Abbey —
beautifully placed ; the height of the arch sublime.

1821] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 385

BOWOOD, November 26.

We were fortunate enough to find Lord and Lady
Lansdowne just returned from their tour. They looked
at the Pyrenees, but they could not go into Spain, for
the yellow fever rages there. A cordon of troops pre-
vent any travelers who might be disposed to brave the
danger of the fever, and fire if any attempt is made to
pass. Lady Lansdowne would quite satisfy you by her
love of the Italian women. Here are Miss Vernon, and
Miss Fox, Lord Holland's sister, and Miss Fox, Lord
Holland's daughter, and Mr. Ogden, the widower of that
beautiful and extraordinary lady whom we met here
three years ago. He has a great deal of cool, grave,
gentlemanly humor, and has been amusing us with an
account of his visit to Bowles, the poet, yesterday, and
his musical sheep-bells and his susceptibility to criticism
and his credulity. He wrote with all the simplicity of
egotism to Murray to desire him, whenever any one who
came into his shop was seen to look into the review of
his controversy with Lord Byron on Pope, to pop into
his hand his pamphlet by way of antidote.

Miss Vernon and Miss Fox are both very agreeable,
and Miss Fox,1 the young lady, beautiful, timid, and
charming.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

MALL, CLIFTON, December 3, 1821.

Our visit here and its object have been happily accom-
plished, my dear mother, for my sister and Mr. King
seem quite pleased and gratified. Emmeline looks and
is in much better health than when I was here before.
1 Mary Elizabeth, who married, 1830, the third Lord Lilford.

386 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [DEC.

I must go to breakfast now, as the carriage Is to be at
the door to carry us to see Mr. Miles's pictures.

CIRENCESTER, December 5.

Our picture day at Leigh Court surpassed our expecta-
tions. Poussin's famous " Land Storm ; " " St. John,"
by Domenichino, the most striking, with a divine head
of our Saviour, by Leonardo da Vinci, and many others
too tantalizing to mention. Mr. King, Emmeline, Mr.
Elton, and ourselves, filled the coach. Mr. King in
high spirits, talked all the way there and back, and was
exceedingly entertaining and instructive. He has great
variety of tastes and acquirements, and we were delighted
to hear him.

There was a large party the last night at Clifton, and
I heard one new thing, a great deal to hear at one party.
This new thing I shall keep for Pakenham ; I wakened
this morning with an intention of getting up remarkably
early to write it for him, and I got up thinking myself
a miracle of virtue and peep-o'-day woman ; but lo ! and
behold, it was just nine o'clock. Good-bye to Paken-
ham and the Deadman's head, of which my own was
full two seconds before ; all that could be done was to
scuffle about the room and rummage the imperials for
gowns, frills, shoes, and gloves ; all happily found, and
on the right owners, and looking charmingly, ma'am, by
breakfast-time. Fanny and Harriet in their lilac and
maroon tabinets. I am now writing in a delightful
arm-chair, high-backed antiquity, and modern cushions.
Company at dinner yesterday — Lord and Lady Bathurst,
Lord Apsley, Mr. William Bathurst, Lady Georgiana,
Lady Emily, Lady Georgiana Lennox, Major Colebrook,

1821] TO MRS. EDGEWOETH 387

and Mr. Fortescue, whom we met at Paris, very agree-
able, " melancholy and gentlemanlike." The conver-
sation goes on here remarkably well : Lady Bathurst is
perfectly well bred and easy; Lord Apsley and Lady
Georgiana very agreeable.

The Duchess of Beaufort's French governess published
in 1817 a story called " Valoe," which threw all high-bred
London into confusion. Everybody who is anybody in
it, under feigned names, the picture of all the persons,
manners, and character of all the young ladies who are
supposed to file off before the Duke of Devonshire. No
wit, but tittle-tattle truths. You can't buy the book if
you were to give your eyes for it : all bought up by the
Duchess of Beaufort.1 Lord Apsley, who has a copy
with all the names in it, lent it to me. Fanny had a
pleasant ride this morning with Lord Bathurst, Mr.
Fortescue, Major Colebrook, and Mr. Bathurst, who all
returned charmed with her manner of riding, and she
with her ride. Harriet and I had driven out with Lady
Bathurst and Lady Georgiana — a delightful drive
through this magnificent park. The meeting of the pine
avenues in a star — superb. " Who plants like Bath-
urst ? " etc. We saw Pope's seat, and " Cotswold's
wild and Saperton's fair dale " : — a most beautiful dale
it is.

News from the best authority ; probably it will be in
the newspapers before you see this : Lord Wellesley is
to be lord-lieutenant, and Mr. Goulburn, secretary.
1 It was written by a governess whom she had dismissed.

388 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [Dec.

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

WINCHESTER, December 12, 1821.

Lest you should be staying in Dublin, I write this
epitome to tell you what we have done. We spent two
days at Cirencester, very entertaining. Delightful
woods.

Friday to Dr. Fowler's, Salisbury, and stayed till to-
day after breakfast; our four days deliciously spent.
We have seen Salisbury Cathedral, and Wilton, pictures,
and statues, and Lady Pembroke and her children, worth
them all.

We were at Longford Castle yesterday ; the strangest
castle in the world. Finest private collection of pictures
I have seen, or at least that in which there are the
fewest indifferent ones.

We have seen Stonehenge ! and spend to-morrow with
Mrs. Moutray at Mr. Coxe's, Twyford.

THE DEEPDENE, December 19.

We arrived here on Saturday. The first day there
were Lady Mary Bennet, Miss Burrowes, Prince Cariati,
a banished Neapolitan, in very long-skirted coat, which
he holds up by tucking one hand inside behind ; good-
humored, and plays all sorts of petits jeux, Mrs.
Hope has recovered her beauty, and she and Mr. Hope
are as kind as ever, and asked affectionately after you,
and so did Henry.

Mrs. Hogan, excellent Mrs. Hogan, has grown much
older, but in all other respects the same, and next to our
own dear Mrs. Billamore the most active and attached
person in her station I ever saw. But why waste my

1821] TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH 389

time on housekeepers, when I should tell you of Lord
Burford and his sisters, Lady Maria and Lady Caroline
Beauelerc, who arrived on Monday, and Lady West-
meath and Mr. Smith (" Rejected Addresses "), and Mr.
Lock, son of Norbury Park Lock : all come to go to a
ball at Dorking, of which Mr. Hope is one of the
stewards.

The Lady Beauclercs are beautiful, in the Vandyke
style, and Lord Burford very handsome, and so is Mr.
Lock, with a curly head.

Fanny danced a great deal, and Harriet two quadrilles
and Sir Roger de Coverley, which ended at six in the
morning. We met at this ball Mr. Greenough, and Mr.
Angerstein, Sneyd's friend, very agreeable, and Mrs.
Hibbert, of the beautiful cottage, and Lady Rothes. Mr.
Smith excessively entertaining; he sings humorous
songs of his own composition inimitably. Alas ! he
went away yesterday.

The evening after the ball they played at " the ring : "
a ring held on a string in a circle, and the fool in the
middle seeks and challenges any suspected hand. This
morning, the moment breakfast was over, they went into
the hall of the marble table, and there played at petits
pacquets (not time to describe), a great deal of running
and laughing among pretty men and pretty maids.

As I stood at the window with Mr. Hope looking at
a ring of company playing French blindman's-buff, we
agreed we had never seen more beauty, male and female,
collected in a circle of fourteen persons.

Mrs. Hogan has just announced the arrival of " Prince
Cimitelli, and another name, ma'am, which I am ashamed
to say I can never twist out rightly, is to come here to-
day."

390 MARIA EDGEWOBTH [JAN.

Mr. Smith told Fanny that he had intended to put
me into the "Rejected Addresses," and had written a
part in the character of an Irish laborer, but it was so
fiat he threw it aside.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

FROGNEL, HAMPSTEAD, December 29, 1821.
We read — I mean we have heard read by Mr. Carr,
who reads admirably — half the first volume of the
"Pirate," stopped at the chapter ending with the
description of Norma of the Fitful Head. We were
much pleased and interested, especially with the beauti-
ful description of Mordaunt's education and employ-
ments : the sea-monsters, etc., most poetical, in Scott's
master style : the manner in which, by scarcely percep-
tible touches, he wakens the reader's interest for his
hero, admirable, unequaled by all but Shakespeare.
Wonderful genius, who can raise an interest even on
the barren rocks of Zetland. Aladdin could only raise
palaces at will, but the mighty master Scott can trans-
port us to the most remote desert corner of the earth, ay,
and keep us there, and make us wish to stay among
beings of his own creation. I send a sketch of the
room, and how we all sat last night as happy as possible
listening to Mr. Carr reading ; show this ground-plan to
Honora, who knows the room, and she will insense you.

TO MRS. RUXTON.

FROGNKL, HAMPSTEAD, January 2, 1822.
We have been enjoying in this family every delight
which affection and cultivated tastes and cheerful tem-
pers can bestow. Upon nearer acquaintance I find Dr.

1822] TO MISS EUXTOX 391

Lushington "worthy of the prize he has obtained in a
wife,1 and I have heard from friends, who differ from
him in political opinions, such honorable testimony to
his integrity and strength of mind that my heart is quite
at ease about her happiness.

TO MISS RTJXTON.

FROGNEL, January 3, 1822.

I believe I left off where I had mentioned the " Pirate,"
which I hope you are reading to my aunt. The char-
acters of the two sisters are beautiful. The idea of
Brenda not believing in supernatural agency, and yet
being afraid, and Minna not being afraid though she
believes in Norma's power, is new and natural and in-
genious. This was Joanna Baillie's idea. The picture
of the sisters sleeping and the lacing scene is excellent,
and there are not only passages of beautiful picturesque
description, but many more deep philosophical reflec-
tions upon the human mind, and the causes of human
happiness, than in any of his other works. The satire
upon agriculturists imported from one country to another,
who set to work to improve the land and the habits of
the people without being acquainted with the circum-
stances of either, is excellent. I am sure my uncle will
like and laugh with Magnus Troil. It is wonderful how
genius can make even barren Zetland fertile in novelty.
Both Morton and Tom Carr are very amiable and both
handsome. Tom dark, like an Italian portrait ; Morton
fair, with light hair and quick-coloring with every emo-
tion : a high sense of honor, chivalrous sentiments, and
delicacy of taste.

1 Miss Edgeworth's old friend, Miss Sarah Carr.

392 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JAN.

New Year's Day was Mr. and Mrs.' Carr's wedding-
day, and it was kept as it always is, with family re-
joicings ; Dr. Holland, as he has done for many years,
and Joanna Baillie and Miss Mulso, an intimate friend,
a niece of Mrs. Chapone's, dined here, which, with the
whole family and ourselves, made a party of twenty.
Mr. Carr gave many toasts ; some so affectionate they
made the tears roll down the cheeks of his children. In
the evening a merry dance, in which Joanna and her
sister joined, and then as agreed upon, at a given signal,
we all ran up to our rooms and dressed in different char-
acters. We did not know what the others were to be,
but Fanny was a nun in a white muslin veil and drapery
over her black gown — dressed in a moment, and I fell
to decking Harriet, a pert traveled young lady just re-
turned from Paris, in the height of the fashion : feathers
of all colors, gold diadem, a profusion of artificial flowers,
a nosegay of vast size, rose-colored gauze dress, darkened
eyebrows, and ringlets of dark hair which so completely
altered her that no creature guessed who she was till
Mrs. Carr at last knew her by her likeness to her
mother ; she supported her character with great spirit.
I was an Irish nurse in a red cloak, come all the way
from Killogonsawce, " for my two childer that left me
last year for foreign parts." Little Francis was Trip-
tolemus, in the " Pirate," an excellent figure, and Mrs.
Carr his sister Baby ; Isabella, an old lady in an old-
fashioned dress, and Laura as her daughter in a court
dress and powder ; Anna, a French troubadour, singing
beautifully and speaking French perfectly ; William, the
youngest son, a half-pay officer, king of the coffee-house ;
Tom, a famous London black beggar, Billy Waters, with

1822] TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 393

a wooden leg ; Morton, Meg Merrilies ; Dr. Lushington,
a housemaid ; Miss Mulso, an English ballad-singer ;
Mr. Burrell (I forgot to mention him, an old family
friend at dinner) as a Spanish gentleman, Don Pedro
Velasquez de Tordesillas ; very good ruff and feathers,
hut much wanting a sword when the wooden-legged
hlack trod on his toes ; in the scuffle of dressing, for
which only ten minutes were allowed, no sword could be
found. From the quickness of preparation, and our all
being a family party, this little masquerade went off
remarkably well, and was very diverting to the persons
concerned.

I heard yesterday from a friend of Lady Lansdowne's
that Miss Kitty Malone has had the operation performed
upon her eye ; saw the ring on Alexander's finger, and
exclaimed, " How happy you must be, sir, who can give
sight to the blind ! "

TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH.
Miss BAILLIE'S, HAMPSTEAD, January 12, 1822.

I have been four days resolving to get up half an
hour earlier that I might have time to tell you, my dear
Lucy, the history of a cat of Joanna and Agnes Baillie's.

You may, perhaps, have heard the name of a cele-
brated Mr. Brodie, who wrote on poisons, and whose
papers on this subject are to be found in the "Trans-
actions of the Koyal Society," and reviewed in the
" Edinburgh Review," in 1811. He brought some of
the Woorara poison, with which the natives poison their
arrows and destroy their victims. It was his theory that
this poison destroys by affecting the nervous system
only, and that after a certain time its effects on the

394 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JAN.

nerves would cease as the effects of intoxicating liquors
cease, and that the patient might recover, if the lungs
could be kept in play, if respiration were not suspended
during the trance or partial death in which the patient
lies. To prove the truth of this by experiment he fell
to work upon a cat ; he pricked the cat with the point
of a lancet dipped in Woorara. It was some minutes
before the animal became convulsed, and then it lay, to
all appearance, dead. Mr. Brodie applied a tube to its
mouth, and blew air into it from time to time ; after
lying some hours apparently lifeless it recovered, shook
itself, and went about its own affairs as usual. This was
tried several times, much to the satisfaction of the phil-
osophical spectators, but not quite to the satisfaction of
poor puss, who grew very thin and looked so wretched
that Dr. Baillie's son, then a boy, took compassion on
this poor subject of experiment, and begged Mr. Brodie
would let him carry off the cat. With or without con-
sent, he did carry her off, and brought her to his aunts,
Joanna and Agnes Baillie. Then puss's prosperous days
began. Agnes made a soft bed for her in her own room,
and by night and day she was the happiest of cats ; she
was called Woorara, which in time shortened into Woory.
I wish I could wind up Woory's history by assuring you
that she was the most attached and grateful of cats, but
truth forbids. A few weeks after her arrival at Hamp-
stead she marched off and never was heard of more. It
is supposed that she took to evil courses : tasted the
blood and bones of her neighbors' chickens, and fell at
last a sacrifice to the vengeance of a cook-maid.

After this cat's departure Agnes took to heart a kitten,
who was very fond of her. This kitten, the first night

1822] TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 395

she slept in her room, on wakening in the morning
looked up from the hearth at Agnes, who was lying
awake, but with her eyes half shut, and marked all puss's
motions ; after looking some instants, puss jumped up
on the bed, crept softly forward and put her paw, with
its glove on, upon one of Miss Baillie's eyelids and
pushed it gently up ; Miss Baillie looked at her fixedly,
and puss, as if satisfied that her eyes were there and
safe, went back to her station on the hearth and never
troubled herself more about the matter.

To finish this chapter of cats. I saw yesterday, at a
lady's house at Hampstead, a real Persian cat, brought
over by a navy captain, her brother. It has long hair
like a dog, and a tail like a terrier's, only with longer
hair. It is the most gentle, depressed-looking creature
I ever saw ; it seems to have the mal du pays, and,
moreover, had the colic the morning I saw it, and
Agnes Baillie had a spoonful of castor-oil poured out
for it, but it ran away.

Joanna quoted to me the other day an excellent pro-
verb applied to health : " Let well alone." If the
Italian valetudinarian had done this his epitaph would
not have arrived at the sto qui.

Captain Beaufort tells me that they have found out
that the wool under the buffalo's long hair is finer than
the material of which the Cashmere shawls are made,
and they are going to manufacture shawls of buffalo's
wool, which are to shame and silence the looms of
Cashmere. Would my mother choose to wait for one
of these ?

396 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [JAN.

TO MKS. EDGEWORTH.

HAMPSTEAD, January 14, 1822.

We are come to our last morning at this hospitable
house. Most affectionate hospitality has been shown to
us by these two excellent sisters. I part with Agnes
and Joanna Baillie, confirmed in my opinion that the
one is the most amiable literary woman I ever beheld,
and the other one of the best informed and most useful.
I wish you had seen Joanna and Agnes each evening
laying Fanny's feet up on the sofa, spreading their bright
Stuart plaid over her, and a silk handkerchief hooded
over her head so comfortable and so pretty ; as Joanna
said, she looked like one of Guido's pictures.

An hour after I had read your letter arrived the
gentleman who franks this letter,1 one of the most sen-
sible, well-bred conversers I ever heard. He began by
giving us an account of all Lord Wellesley has been
doing in Ireland, and entertained us for three hours
with anecdotes of Fox and Mrs. Fox, and Lord Gren-
ville, with whom he has been staying at Dropmore. He
said that when he first went there and heard there was
no company in the house, he was frightened out of his
wits at the idea of a tete-a-tete with silent Lord Gren-
ville ; but to his astonishment, he found him tete-a-tete
the most communicative and talkative of men ; he had
only to ask him what he pleased, to set him off delight-
fully, like the Primate ; those who can venture to talk
to him freely, please him, and conquer his constitutional
bashfulness. At breakfast he has three or four spaniels
jumping upon him, he feeding, and protecting the news-
1 Mr. Abercromby — Lord Dunfermline.

1822] TO MISS EUXTON 897

paper, which he is reading all the time, from them. He
is remarkably fond of children. Mr. Abercromby saw
him with two little boys, sons of a friend, and all the
morning he was diverting them in the library, hunting
for entertaining books and pictures for them. Such a
new idea of Lord Grenville !

SIR JOHN SEBRIGHT'S,
BEECHWOOD PARK, January 16.

A very fine park it is, with magnificently large beech-
trees, which well deserve to give their name to the
place. The house, a fine-looking house, was a convent
in the days of Edward VI. Library forty feet long ;
books in open shelves, handsome and comfortable. Dr.
Wollaston kindly recognized Fanny. Mrs. Marcet —
we were glad to secure her. Mrs. Somerville — little,
slightly made ; fair hair, pink color ; small, gray, round,
intelligent, smiling eyes ; very pleasing countenance ;
remarkably soft voice, strong, but well-bred Scotch
accent ; timid, not disqualifying timid, but naturally
modest, yet with a degree of self-possession through it
which prevents her being in the least awkward, and
gives her all the advantage of her understanding, at
the same time that it adds a prepossessing charm to her
manner, and takes off all dread of her superior scientific
learning.

TO MISS RUXTON.

BEECHWOOD PARK, January 17, 1822.

I have this moment heard an anecdote, which proves
beyond a doubt — if any doubt remained — that Walter
Scott is the author of the novels. He edited " The

398 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [JAN.

Memorie of the Somervilles," and in the MS. copy are
his marks of what was to be omitted ; and among these
what suggested to him the idea of Lady Margaret and
the famous tfo'sjeune which His Majesty did her the
honor to take with her — continually referred to by an
ancestor of Lord Somerville's.

We have spent two days pleasantly here with Dr.
Wollaston, Dr. and Mrs. Somerville, Mr. Giles, and Mr.
Franks, besides our own dear friend, Mrs. Marcet.
Mrs. Somerville is the lady who, La Place says, is the
only woman in England who understands his works.
She draws beautifully; and while her head is among
the stars, her feet are firm upon the earth. Sir John
Sebright himself is very entertaining — quite a new
character ; he amused me incessantly : strong head, and
warm heart, and oddity enough for ten. He showed us
his pigeons, one which he said he would not part with
for a hundred guineas ; he took it up in his hands to
show me its pretty white head, but I could not see the
difference between it and one not worth ten shillings.
The pouting pigeons, who have goitres, as Mrs. Marcet
said, are frightful ; they put in their heads behind these
bags of wind, and strut about as if proud of deformity.
We saw four Antwerp pigeons, one of which went, Sir
John told us, from Tower Hill to Antwerp in six hours.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

MARDOAKS, January 19, 1822.

We called at Hatfield on our way here : a fine pile of
old house with many pictures — Burleigh, Cecil, Leices-
ter, and Elizabeth. Do you remember meeting Lady

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 399

Salisbury J at Lady Darnley's ? little, lively, good
humored, very alert and active. What do you think of
her fox-hunting, though past seventy ? Mr. Franks
and Mr. Giles, whom we met at Beechwood, and all the
young men, declare that she is more lively and good
humored out hunting than any of them. An old groom
goes out with her on a hunter a little better than her
own, always a little before her, to show her where she
may go, and turns to her every now and then, " Come
on ! why the d — 1 don't you leap ? " or " You must not
go there ! why the d — 1 do you go there ? "

We arrived here in our usual happy time — firelight,
an hour before dinner : most cordially received both by
Sir James and Lady Mackintosh : house pretty, library
comfortable, hall and staircase beautiful: house filled
with books.

I must tell you an anecdote of Wilberforce and a
dream of Dr. Wollaston's. Mr. Wilberforce, you know,
sold his house at Kensington Gore : the purchaser was a
Chinaman, or, I should say, the keeper of a china-shop
in Oxford Street — Mr. Mortlock. When the purchase-
money was paid, £10,000, and the deeds executed, Mr.
Mortlock waited upon Mr. Wilberforce, and said, " This
house suits you, Mr. Wilberforce, so well in every re-
spect, that I am sure your only motive in parting with
it is to raise the money : therefore permit me to return
these title-deeds. Accept this testimony of esteem, due
to your public character and talents."

Wilberforce did not accept this handsome offer.

1 Amelia, daughter of the first Marquis of Devonshire, and wife of the
first Marquis of Salisbury. She was burnt to death in Hattield House,
27th November, 1835.

400 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JAK.

Dr. Wollaston told us that he was much pleased with
his own ingenuity in a dream. He wished to weigh
himself, but suddenly fell, and was hurried forward on
the ground till he came to a spot where the power of
gravity ceased to act. He bethought himself of a spring
steelyard, and with the joy of successful invention,
wakened. Sir John Sebright, however, would not allow
Wollaston to be proud of this, as it would have occurred
to him, or any one acquainted with the principle of a
steelyard. We argued this point for a quarter of an
hour, and each went away, as usual, of his or her origi-
nal opinion.

HERTFORD COLLEGE, Januarj* 23.

Do you recollect a Cornish friend of Davy's, who
supped with him the night when Lady Darnley and the
Kussian Prince and the Sneyds were there ? and Davy
saying that this Cornish friend was a very clever man,
and that he was anxious to do him honor, and be kind ?
The Cornish friend was Mr., now Dr. Batten, at the
head of Hertford College. He had with him a rosy-
cheeked, happy-looking, open-faced son, of nine years
old, whom we liked much, and whose countenance and
manner gave the best evidence possible in favor of father
and mother.

Le Bas is as deaf as a post ; but that is no matter,
as he is professor of mathematics, and deals only in de-
monstration. He has a very good-natured, intelligent
countenance. He laughed heartily at some nonsense of
mine which caught his ear, and that broke the mournful
gravity of his countenance.

Fanny had some rides with little Mackintosh while at
Mardoaks — Robert, a very intelligent boy of fifteen,

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 401

little for his age ; like his father, but handsomer, and he
listens to his conversation with a delight which proves
him worthy to be the son of such a father, and promises
future excellence better than anything he could say at
his age. Sir James is improved in the art of conversa-
tion since we knew him ; being engaged in great affairs
with great men and great women has perfected him in
the use and management of his wonderful natural powers
and vast accumulated treasures of knowledge. His
memory now appears to work less ; his eloquence is more
easy, his wit more brilliant, his anecdotes more happily
introduced. Altogether his conversation is even more
delightful than formerly ; superior to Dumont's in imagi-
nation, and almost equal in wit. In Dumont's mind
and conversation, wit and reason are kept separate ; but
in Mackintosh they are mixed, and he uses both in argu-
ment, knowing the full value and force of each ; never
attempting to pass wit for logic, he forges each link of
the chain of demonstration, and then sends the electric
spark of wit through it. The French may well exclaim,
in speaking of him, " Quelle abondance ! "

He told us that at Berlin, just before a dinner at
which were all the principal ambassadors of Europe,
Madame de Stae'l, who had been invited to meet them,
turned to a picture of Buonaparte, then at the height of
his power, and addressed it with Voltaire's lines to
Cupid : —

" Qui que ce soit, voici ton maitre,
II est, le fut, ou le doit etre."

Fanny and Harriet say that Mackintosh has far sur-
passed their expectations. The two new persons Fanny
wished most to see in England were Bicardo and Mackin-

402 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [JAN.

tosh : she has seen them in the best possible manner, in
their own families, at leisure not only to be wise and
good, but agreeable. Harriet and she have heard more
of their conversation than they could in a whole season
in London. Think how happy I must feel in seeing
them quite satisfied. Sir James and Lady Mackintosh
seem to like them, and I and they delight in Miss Mack-
intosh : she is one of the best-informed and most unaf-
fected girls I ever knew, with a sweet voice and agree-
able conversation.

GROVE HOUSE, KENSINGTON,
January 27, 1822.

As if wakening from a long dream, I find myself sit-
ting in exactly the same corner, on the same chair, in
the same room where Fanny, and Honora, and I were
three years ago! Lady Elizabeth Whitbread1 looks
better than she did when we left her, though much thin-
ner : her kindness and the winning dignity of her man-
ners the same as ever. She was at breakfast with us at
half past nine this morning, when she went to her church
and we to Kensington — Mrs. Batty 's pew — Harriet
and I. Fanny stayed at home for the good of her body,
and Lady Elizabeth left with her, for the good of her
soul, that wicked " Cain." 2

Miss Grant will be here on Monday, absent a fort-
night, nursing Mrs. Nesbitt. A new dog, Jubal : Lady
Elizabeth heard one of the little Battys say, " Lion has
hatched a new dog," and the sister correcting her, " Oh,

1 Eldest daughter of the first Earl Grey.

2 Lord Byron's Cain, which was preached against in Kensington
Church by Mr. Rennel.

1822] TO MKS. ETJXTON 403

my dear ! hatched ! you mean laid ! " Jubal is very like
Lion, only younger and handsomer : milk-white, and
shorn poodle fashion.

TO MBS. RUXTON.

GROVE HOUSE, February, 1822.

I am glad you like the preface to " Prank : " the engi-
neer and the scientific part will tire you — skip and go
on to the third volume. Delightful breakfast to-day at
Mr. Eicardo's. We have this last week seen all Cal-
cott's principal pictures, and those by Mulready, an Irish
artist : one of a messenger playing truant ; the enraged
mistress, and the faces of the boys he is playing with,
and the little child he had the care of asleep, all tell
their story well ; but none of these come near the ex-
quisite humor and ingenuity of Hogarth. I have the
face of that imbecile, round-eyed, half-drunk friend of
ours in the corner of the " Election Dinner " now before
me, and I can never think of it without laughing.

We have seen Sir Thomas Lawrence's magnificent pic-
ture of the King in his coronation robes, which is to be
sent to the Pope.1 He flatters with great skill, choos-
ing every creature's best. An admirable picture of Wal-
ter Scott ; ditto ditto of Lady Jersey and Lady Cunning-
ham. Lord Anglesea came in while we were with Sir
Thomas : he is no longer handsome, but a model for the
" nice conduct " of a wooden leg. It was within an inch
of running through Walter Scott's picture, which was on
the floor leaning on the wall ; but, by a skillful sidelong
manoeuvre, he bowed out of its way. His gray hair
1 Now in the Lateran Palace.

404 MARIA EDGEWORTH [FEB.

looks much better than His Majesty's flaxen wig — bad
taste.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

KENSINGTON GOHE, February 6, 1822.

A dreadful storm two nights ago, which blew down
two fine old trees in the park, and a miserable wet day,
in which we made our way to the dentist's.

Colonel Talbot dined here — cast in the same mould
as all the other Talbots I have ever seen : his face has
been bronzed by hardships, and scorched by the reflection
from American snows : his manner of speaking slow —
not too slow, only slow enough to be calmly distinct ;
and when relating wonders and dangers, gives you at once
the certainty of truth, and the belief in his fortitude
and intrepid presence of mind. He related the visit
from his European friend, when he had built his log-
house, and was his own servant of all work ; and gave
us an account of an attack of the Indians upon Fort Tal-
bot. He gives me the idea of the most cool courage
imaginable. I could not help looking at him, as if he
were Robinson Crusoe come to life again, and continuing
stories from his own book. He has now a very good
house, or palace I should say ; for he is not only lord of
all he surveys, but actually king.

Do you recollect American Mrs. Griffith writing to
tell me that Mr. Ealston would come to see us, and my
extreme disappointment at his finding in Dublin that
Miss Edgeworth was not at home, and so not going down
to Edgeworthstown, and not seeing Lovell's school ?
He has found us out now, and Lady Elizabeth invited
him here. He has traveled over half Europe and is

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 405

going to Spain ; but upon my giving him a note to Mack-
intosh, with a draft upon him for five minutes' conversa-
tion, and notes to some other celebrated people, he, like
a sensible man, determined to delay his journey on pur-
pose to see them. Lady Elizabeth has been so kind to
ask him to dine here to-day, and commissioned me to in-
vite whoever I pleased to meet him. First we wrote to
your brother, but he could not come ; and then to Dr.
Holland, but he was engaged to Holland House. In
his note to me he says, "I have seen Mr. Ralston
several times, and have been greatly pleased with his
ingenuousness, acquirements, and agreeable manners."
His father and mother are grand — and what is rather
better, most benevolent — people in Philadelphia. Mean-
time I must go and write a letter of introduction for him
to Count Edouard de la Grange, who is just returned
from Spain to Paris, and may serve him. But I forgot
to finish my sentence about the invitations to dinner.
My third invitation was to Mr. Calcott, the painter, with
whom we made acquaintance a few days ago. He has
been more civil than I can tell you, promising us his
ticket for the Exhibition, and preparing the way for our
seeing pictures at Lord Liverpool's, Sir John Swin-
burne's, etc. ; so I was glad to have this opportunity of
asking him, and he breaks an engagement to the Academy
to accept of Lady Elizabeth's invitation.

Now I must " put on bonnet " to go to Lady Grey's.
She is the most touching sight ! and Lady Elizabeth's
affection and respect for her ! She has desired to see
Fanny and Harriet to-day.

406 MARIA EDGEWOETH [FEB.

February 9.

Like a child who keeps the plums of his pudding for
the last, hut who is so tedious in getting through the be-
ginning that his plate is taken away before he gets to his
plums, so I often put off what I think the plums of
my letters till " the post, ma'am," hurries it off without
the best part.

In my hurried conclusion I forgot to tell you that Mr.
Ralston has lately become acquainted with Mr. Perkins,
the American, who has tried experiments on the com-
pressibility of water, the results of which have astonished
all the scientific world.

Wollaston, as Mr. Ralston affirms, has verified and
warrants the truth of these experiments, which have not
yet been published. The most wonderful part appeared
to me incredible : under a great degree of compression the
water, Mr. Ralston said, turned to gas !

February 20.

Lady Lansdowne was here yesterday while I was in
town ; she heard that Fanny and Harriet were at home ;
got out and sat with them : very agreeable. Lady
Bathurst has been here, and Lady Georgiana : asked us
to a select party — Princess Lieven, etc., — but we de-
clined : could not leave Lady Elizabeth. I do not know
that there is any truth in the report that Lady Georgiana
is to marry Lord Liverpool : I should think not ; for
when we were at Cirencester, Lady Bathurst read out of
a letter, " So I hear Lady Georgiana is to be our Prime
Minister," which she would not have done if the thing
were really going on ; and when I went to Lord Liver-
pool's a few days ago, he was in deep mourning, the

1822] TO MES. EDGEWORTH 407

hatchment still up on his house, his note-paper half an
inch black border. If he were courting, surely the
black border would diminish, and the .hatchment would
be taken down. I wish it were true, for I like both
parties, and think it would be remarkably well suited.

February 24.

Yesterday Captain Beaufort walked here to see us, and
then walked with Harriet and me to Lady Listowel's,
ci-devant Lady Ennismore, looking just the same as when
we saw her at Kilkenny : excessively civil to us. Two
curious pictures there done by an Irish boy, or man, of
the name of Grogan, of Cork : one of these is an Irish
wake ; there is a great deal of original humor and inven-
tion in it, of the Wilkie, or, better still, of the Hogarth
style.

But all this time you would be glad to know whether
I am likely to have a house over my head or not ? It
cannot be decided till Tuesday — 8, or 12, Holies Street.

Yesterday we went to see Mrs. Moutray at Mr. Sum-
ner's most comfortable and superb house. She had been
to see the poor Queen's pictures and goods, which are
now for sale : a melancholy sight ; all her dress, even
her stays, laid out, and tarnished finery, to be purchased
by the lowest of the low. There was a full-length picture
of her when she was young and happy ; another, beautiful,
by Opie or Lawrence, standing screwing up a harp with
one hand, and playing with her little daughter with the
other.

408 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

TO MRS. RUXTONV

8 HOLLES STREET, March 9.

We are comfortably settled in this good central situa-
tion. We were last Monday at a select early party at
Mrs. Hope's. The new gallery of Flemish pictures
given to Mr. Hope by his brother is beautifully ar-
ranged.

I have had the greatest pleasure in Francis Beaufort *
going with us to our delightful breakfasts at Mr. Bicardo's
— they enjoy each other's conversation so much. It
has now become high fashion with blue ladies to talk
political economy, and make a great jabbering on the
subject, while others who have more sense, like Mrs.
Marcet, hold their tongues and listen. A gentleman
answered very well the other day when asked if he
would be of the famous Political Economy Club, that
he would, whenever he could find two members of it
that agree in any one point. Meantime, fine ladies re-
quire that their daughters' governesses should teach
political economy. " Do you teach political economy ? "
" No, but I can learn it." " Oh dear, no ; if you don't
teach it, you won't do for me."

Another style of governess is now the fashion, — the
ultra-French : a lady-governess of this party, and one
of the Orleans or libSraux met and came to high words,
till all was calmed by the timely display of a ball-dress,
trimmed with roses alternately red and white, — " Gar-
niture aux prejuge's vaincus." This should have been
worn by those who formerly invented in the Revolution
" Bals aux victimes."

1 Brother of the fourth Mrs. Edgeworth.

1822] TO MRS. RUXTON 409

Yesterday we breakfasted at Mrs. Somerville's, and sat
in her painting-room. Left her at one o'clock, and
went by appointment to Lansdowne House. Lady Lans-
downe quite affectionate to Fanny and Harriet ; had fire
and warm air in the superb new statue saloon on pur-
pose for them. Mrs. Kennedy — Sir Samuel Romilly's
daughter — came in, invited to meet us, very pleasing
manners. Mrs. Nicholls, — Lady Lansdowne's niece, —
" I like that you should know all I love."

Then we went with Captain and Mrs. Beaufort to
Belzoni's tomb, — the model first, and then the tomb as
large as life, painted in its proper colors, — a very strik-
ing spectacle, but I need not describe it ; the book repre-
sents it perfectly.

Next door to the tomb are the Laplanders, the man
about my size, at work, intently, but stupidly, on mak-
ing a wooden spoon. The wife was more intelligent : a
child of five years, very quiet gray eyes. In the middle
of the apartment is a pen full of reindeer, — very gentle
and ravenously eager for moss, of which there was a great
basket. This moss, which they love as well as their
own, has been found in great quantities on Bagshot Heath.

We went one night to the House of Commons : Mr.
Whitbread took us there. A garret the whole size of
the room — the former chapel — now the House of Com-
mons ; below, kitcats of Gothic chapel windows stopped
up appear on each side above the floor: above, roof-
beams. One lantern with one farthing candle, in a tin
candlestick, all the light. In the middle of the garret
is what seemed like a sentry-box of deal boards and old
chairs placed round it : on these we got and stood and
peeped over the top of the boards. Saw the large

410 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

chandelier with lights blazing, immediately below : a
grating of iron across veiled the light so that we could
look down and beyond it : we saw half the table with
the mace lying on it and papers, and by peeping hard
two figures of clerks at the further end, but no eye could
see the Speaker or his chair, — only his feet ; his voice
and terrible " ORDER " was soon heard. We could see
part of the Treasury Bench and the Opposition in their
places, — the tops of their heads, profiles, and gestures
perfectly. There was not any interesting debate, — the
Knightsbridge affair and the Salt Tax, — but it was
entertaining to us because we were curious to see and
hear the principal speakers on each side. We heard
Lord Londonderry, Mr. Peel, and Mr. Vansittart; and
on the other side, Denman, Brougham, and Bennett, and
several hesitating country gentlemen, who seemed to be
speaking to please their constituents only. Sir John
Sebright was as much at ease as in his own drawing-
room at Beechwood : Mr. Brougham we thought the
best speaker we heard, Mr. Peel next ; Mr. Vansittart
the best language, and most correct English, though
there was 'little in what he said. The Speaker, we were
told, had made this observation on Mr. Vansittart, that
he never makes a mistake in grammar. Lord London-
derry makes the most extraordinary blunders and mal-a-
propos. Mr. Denman speaks well. The whole, the
speaking and the interest of the scene surpassed our
expectations, and we felt proud to mark the vast differ-
ence between the English House of Commons and the
French Chambre des De'pute's. Nevertheless, there are
disturbances in Suffolk, and Lord Londonderry had to
get up from dinner to order troops to be sent there.

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 411

TO MRS. EDGEWOKTH.

8 HOLLES STREET, March, 1822.

Your brother Francis is kind to us beyond descrip-
tion, and lets us take him where we will ; he dined with
us at Mrs. Weddell's, — this dear old lady copied last
year, in her seventy-second year, a beautiful crayon
picture of Lady Dundas, — and here we met Lady
Louisa Stuart, Mr. Stanley of Alderley, and many
others.

Yesterday we went the moment we had swallowed our
breakfast, — N. B. superfine green tea given to us by
Mrs. Taddy, — by appointment to Newgate. The pri-
vate door opened at sight of our tickets, and the great
doors and the little doors, and the thick doors, and doors
of all sorts, were unbolted and unlocked, and on we
went through dreary but clean passages, till we came to
a room where rows of empty benches fronted us. A
table on which lay a large Bible. Several ladies and
gentlemen entered and took their seats on benches at
either side of the table, in silence.

Enter Mrs. Fry in a drab-colored silk cloak, and plain
borderless Quaker cap ; a most benevolent countenance,

— Guido-Madonna face, — calm, benign. " I must make
an inquiry, — Is Maria Edgeworth here ? and where ? "
I went forward ; she bade us come and sit beside her.
Her first smile as she looked upon me I can never
forget.

The prisoners came in, and in an orderly manner
ranged themselves on the benches. All quite clean,

— faces, hair, caps, and hands. On a very low bench in
front, little children were seated and were settled by

412 MAEIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

their mothers. Almost all these women, about thirty,
were under sentence of transportation, some few only
were for imprisonment. One who did not appear was
under sentence of death, — frequently women when sen-
tenced to death become ill, and unable to attend Mrs.
Fry ; the others come regularly and voluntarily.

She opened the Bible, and read in the most sweetly
solemn, sedate voice I ever heard, slowly and distinctly,
without anything in the manner that could distract atten-
tion from the matter. Sometimes she paused to explain,
which she did with great judgment, addressing the con-
victs, " we have felt ; we are convinced." They were
very attentive, unaffectedly interested I thought in all
she said, and touched by her manner. There was nothing
put on in their countenances, not any appearance of
hypocrisy. I studied their countenances carefully, but
I could not see any which, without knowing to whom
they belonged, I should have decided was bad ; yet Mrs.
Fry assured me that all those women had been of the
worst sort. She confirmed what we have read and
heard, that it was by their love of their children that
she first obtained influence over these abandoned women.
When she first took notice of one or two of their fine
children, the mothers said that if she could but save
their children from the misery they had gone through in
vice, they would do anything she bid them. And when
they saw the change made in their children by her
schooling, they begged to attend themselves. I could
not have conceived that the love of their children could
have remained so strong in hearts in which every other
feeling of virtue had so long been dead. The Vicar of
Wakefield's sermon in prison is, it seems, founded on a

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 413

deep and true knowledge of human nature, — " the
spark of good is often smothered, never wholly extin-
guished."

Mrs. Fry often says an extempore prayer; but this
day she was quite silent while she covered her face with
her hands for some minutes : the women were perfectly
silent, with their eyes fixed upon her, and when she
said, " You may go," they went away slowly. The chil-
dren sat quite still the whole time, — when one leaned,
the mother behind set her upright.

Mrs. Fry told us that the dividing the women into
classes has been of the greatest advantage, and putting
them under the care of monitors. There is some little
pecuniary advantage attached to the office of monitor
which makes them emulous to obtain it.

We went through the female wards with Mrs. Fry,
and saw the women at various works, — knitting, rug-
making, etc. They have done a great deal of needle-
work very neatly, and some very ingenious. When I
expressed my foolish wonder at this to Mrs. Fry's sister,
she replied, " We have to do, recollect, ma'am, not with
fools, but with rogues."

There is only one being, among all those upon whom
she has tried to make salutary impression, on whom
she could make none, — an old Jewess. She is so de-
praved and so odiously dirty that she cannot be purified,
body or mind ; wash her and put clean clothes on, she
tears and dirties them, and swarms with vermin again in
twenty-four hours. I saw her in the kitchen where
they were served with broth : a horrible spectacle, which
haunted me the whole day and night afterwards. One
eye had been put out and closed up, and the other

414 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [APRIL

glared with malignant passion. I asked her if she was
not happier since Mrs. Fry had come to Newgate. She
made no direct reply, but said, "It is hard to be happy
in a jail; if you tasted that broth you'd find it is
nothing but dish-water." I did taste it, and found it
was very good.

Far from being disappointed with the sight of what
Mrs. Fry has effected, I was delighted. We emerged
again from the thick, dark, silent walls of Newgate to
the bustling city, and thence to the elegant part of the
town ; and before we had time to arrange our ideas, and
while the mild Quaker face and voice, and wonderful
resolution and successful exertions of this admirable
woman were fresh in our minds, morning visitors flowed
in, and common life again went on.

Three or four of these visitors were very agreeable, Sir
Humphry Davy, Major Colebrook, Lord Radstock, and
Mrs. Scott, — Mrs. Scott of Danesfield, whom and which
we saw when at Lord Carrington's. The Bellman.

Aprils.

Fanny and Harriet have been with me at that grand
exclusive paradise of fashion, Almack's. Observe that
the present Duchess of Rutland who had been a few
months away from town, and had offended the lady
patronesses by not visiting them, could not at her utmost
need get a ticket from any one of them, and was kept
out to her amazing mortification. This may give you
some idea of the importance attached to admission to
Almack's. Kind Mrs. Hope got tickets for us from
Lady Gwydyr and Lady Cowper ; the patronesses can
only give tickets to those whom they personally know ;

1822] TO MKS. EDGEWORTH 415

on that plea they avoided the Duchess of Rutland's
application : she had not visited them, — " they really
did not know her Grace ; " and Lady Cowper swallowed
a camel for me, because she did not really know me ; I
had met her, but had never been introduced to her till I
saw her at Almack's. Fanny and Harriet were beauti-
fully dressed: their heads by Lady Lansdowne's hair-
dresser, Trichot : Mrs. Hope lent Harriet a wreath of
her own French roses. Fanny was said by many to be,
if not the prettiest, the most elegant looking young
woman in the room, and certainly " elegance, birth, and
fortune were there assembled," as the newspapers would
truly say.

Towards the close of the evening Captain Waldegrave
came to me with Mr. Bootle Wilbraham, who has been
alternately Wilbraham Bootle and Bootle Wilbraham,
till nobody knows how to call him : no matter for me,
he came to say he was at our service and our most
devoted humble servant to show us the Millbank Peni-
tentiary whenever we pleased. He is a grand man, and
presently returned with a grander, — the Marquis of
Londonderry, who by his own account had been dying
some time with impatience to be introduced to us ;
talked much of " Castle Rackrent," etc., and of Ireland.
Of course I thought his manner and voice very agreeable.
He is much fatter and much less solemn than when I
saw him in the Irish House of Commons. He intro-
duced us to jolly fat Lady Londonderry, who was vastly
gracious, and invited us to one of the four grand parties
which she gives every season : and it surprised me very
much to perceive the rapidity with which a minister's
having talked to a person spread through the room.

416 MARIA EDGEWORTH [APRIL

Everybody I met afterwards that night and the next day
observed to me that they had seen Lord Londonderry
talking to me for a great while !

We had a crowded party at Lady Londonderry's, but
they had no elbows.

April 4.

I recollect that I left off yesterday in the midst of a
well-bred crowd at Lady Londonderry's, — her Marchion-
ess-ship standing at her drawing-room door all in scarlet
for three hours, receiving the world with smiles ; and
how it happened that her fat legs did not sink under her
I cannot tell. The chief, I may say the only satisfaction
we had at Lady Londonderry's, while we won our way
from room to room, nodding to heads, or touching hands,
as we passed, — besides the prodigious satisfaction of
feeling ourselves at such a height of fashion, etc. — was
in meeting Mr. Bankes, and Lady Charlotte, and Mr.
Lemon behind the door of one of the rooms, and pro-
ceeding in the tide along with them into an inner
sanctuary, in which we had cool air and a sight of the
great Sevres china vase, which was presented by the
King of France to Lord Londonderry at the signing of
the peace. Much agreeable conversation from this
traveled Mr. Bankes. We heard from Lady Charlotte
that her entertaining sister, Lady Harriet Frampton, had
just arrived, and when I expressed our wish to become
acquainted with her, Mr. Bankes exclaimed, " She is so
eager to know you that she would willingly have come
to you in worsted stockings, just as she alighted from
her traveling carriage, with sandwiches in one pocket
and letters and gloves stuffing out the other."

Enter Mr. and Mrs. Hope. Mr. Hope, characteristic-

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 417

ally curious in vases, turned me round to a famous
malachite vase which was given by the Emperor of
Russia to Lord Londonderry — square, upon a pedestal
high as my little table ; and another, a present of I
forget who. So, you see, he has a congress of vases,
en d6sire-t-il mieux ?

Many, many dinners and evening parties have rolled
over one another, and are swept out of my memory
by the tide of the last fortnight : one at Lady Lans-
downe's, and one at Mrs. Hope's, and I will go on to
one at Miss White's. Mr. Henry Fox, Lord Holland's
son, is lame. I sat between him and young Mr. Ord,
Fanny between Mr. Milman (the Martyr of Antioch) and
Sir Humphry Davy (the Martyr of Matrimony), Har-
riet between Dr. Holland and young Ord : Mr. Moore
(Canterbury) and old-ish Ord completed this select din-
ner. In the evening the principal personages were Lord
James Stuart and Mrs. Siddons : she was exceedingly
entertaining, told anecdotes, repeated some passages from
" Jane Shore " beautifully, and invited us to a private
evening party at her house.

We have become very intimate with Wollaston and
Kater, Mr. Warburton, and Dr. and Mrs. Somerville :
they and Dr. and Mrs. Marcet form the most agreeable
as well as scientific society in London. We have been to
Greenwich Observatory. You remember Mr. and Mrs.
Pond ? I liked him for the candor and modesty with
which he spoke of the parallax dispute between him and
Dr. Brinkley, of whom he and all the scientific world
here speak with the highest reverence.

We went yesterday with Lord Radstock to the Mill-
bank Penitentiary, where by appointment we were met

418 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [APRIL

by Mr. Wilbraham Bootle. We had the pleasure of
taking with us Alicia and Captain Beaufort. Solitary
confinement for the'worst offenses : solitary confinement
in darkness at first. There are many young offenders ;
the governors say they are horrid plagues, for they are
not allowed to flog them, and they are little influenced
by darkness and solitary confinement : oldish men much
afraid of it. The disease most common in this prison is
scrofula ; and it is a curious fact that those who work
with their arms at the mills are free from it, those who
work with their feet at the treadmills are subject to it.

Adieu. I must here break off, as Mrs. Primate Stuart
has come in, and left me no time for more. The
Primate has recovered, and has set out this day with his
son for Winchester, to see some haunts of his youth,
takes a trip to Bath, and returns in a few days, when I
hope we shall see him.

April 6.

I left off in the Millbank Penitentiary, but what more
I was going to say I cannot recollect; so, my dear
mother, you must go without that wisdom. All that I
know now is that I saw a woman who is under sentence
of death for having poisoned her sister. She appeared
to me to be insane ; but it is said that it is a frequent
attempt of the prisoners to sham madness, in order to get
to Bedlam, from which they can get out when cured.
One woman deceived all the medical people, clergyman,
jailor, and turnkeys, was removed to Bedlam as incur-
ably mad, and from Bedlam made her escape. I saw a
girl of about eighteen, who had been educated at Miss
Hesketh's school, and had been put to service in a
friend's family. She was in love with a footman who

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 419

was turned away : the old housekeeper refused the girl
permission to go out the night this man was turned
away : the girl went straight to a drawer in the house-
keeper's room, where she had seen a letter with money
in it, took it, and put a coal into the drawer, to set the
house on fire ! For this she was committed, tried,
convicted, and would have been hanged, but for Sir
Thomas Hesketh's intercession ; he had her sent to the
Penitentiary for ten years. Would you not think that
virtue and feeling were extinct in this girl ? No ; the
taskmistress took us into the cell, where she was
working in company with two other women ; she has
earned by her constant good conduct the privilege of
working in company. One of the Miss Wilbrahams,
when all the other visitors except myself had left the
cell, turned back and said, " I think I saw you once
when I was with Miss Hesketh at her school." The
girl blushed, her face gave way, and she burst into an
agony of tears, without being able to answer one word.

Yesterday we breakfasted at Mrs. Somerville's, and I
put on for her a blue crape turban, to show her how
Fanny's was put on, with which she had fallen in love.
We dined at Mrs. Hughan's,1 niece to Joanna Baillie :
select party for Sir William Pepys, who is eighty-two, a
most agreeable, lively old gentleman, who tells delightful
anecdotes of Mrs. Montague, Sir Joshua, Burke, and Dr.
Johnson. Mrs. Montague once whispered to Sir Wil-
liam, on seeing a very awkward man coming into the
room, " There is a man who would give one of his hands
to know Avhat to do with the other." Excellent house

1 Jean, daughter of Robert Milligan, Esq., of Cotswold, Gloucester-
shire.

420 MARIA EDGEWORTH [APRIL

of Mrs. Hughan's, full of flowers and luxuries. In the
evening many people ; the Baillies, and a Miss Jardine,
granddaughter of Bruce, the traveler. We carried Sir
William off with us at half past nine to Mrs. Somerville's,
and after we had been gone half an hour, Mr. Pepys, a
young man between forty and fifty, arrived, and putting
his glass up to his eye, spied about for his uncle, discov-
ered that he was gone, and could not tell how or where !
Miss Milligan, sister to Mrs. Hughan, told him Miss
Edgeworth had carried him off. His own carriage
arrived at eleven, and carried Mr. Pepys, by private
orders, not knowing where he was going, to Mrs. Somer-
ville's. We had brought Sir William there to hear Mrs.
Kater sing and play Handel's music, of which he is pas-
sionately fond. It was worth while to bring him to
hear her singing, he so exceedingly enjoyed it, and so
does Wollaston, who sits as mute as a mouse and as still
as the statue of a philosopher charmed.

I forgot to tell you that Lady Elizabeth Belgrave,1 as
pretty and winning as ever, came to see us with Lady
Stafford ; and yesterday, the third time of calling at her
door, I was told by a pimpled, red-blotched door-holder
that "her ladyship was not at home," but after he had
turned the card to another form out of livery, he said,
" My lady is at home to you, ma'am." So up we went,
and she was very entertaining, with fresh observations
from Paris, and much humor. She said she was sure
there was some peculiar charm in the sound of the clink-
ing of their swords in walking up and down the gallery
of the Tuileries, which the old stupid ones pace every
day for hours. She says she has met with much grateful
1 Daughter of the first Duke of Sutherland.

1822] TO MRS. EUXTON 421

attention from the royal family, and many of the French
whom she had formerly known, but cannot give enter-
tainments, because they have not the means. The Count
d'Artois apologized ; he has no separate dinner — always
dined with the King, and "very sorry for it." Lady
Stafford asked us all to dinner, but we were engaged to
Mr. Morritt. She is to ask again after our return from
the Deepdene, where we spend Monday and Tuesday
with the dear Hopes.

TO MKS. BUXTON.

8 HOLLES STREET, April 10, 1822.

The great variety of society in London, and the solidity
of the sense and information to be gathered from conver-
sation, strike me as far superior to Parisian societyt We
know, I think, six different and totally independent sets
of scientific, literary, political, traveled, artist, and the
fine fashionable, of various shades; and the different
styles of conversation are very entertaining.

Through Lydia White we have become more acquainted
with Mrs. Siddons than I ever expected to be. She
gave us the history of her first acting of Lady Macbeth,
and of her resolving, in the sleep-scene, to lay down the
candlestick, contrary to the precedent of Mrs. Pritchard
and all the traditions, before she began to wash her hands
and say, " Out, vile spot ! " Sheridan knocked violently
at her door during the five minutes she had desired to
have entirely to herself, to compose her spirits before
the play began. He burst in, and prophesied that she
would ruin herself forever if she persevered in this reso-
lution to lay down the candlestick! She persisted,
however, in her determination, succeeded, was applauded,

422 MAEIA EDGEWOETH [APRIL

and Sheridan begged her pardon. She described well
the awe she felt, and the power of the excitement given
to her by the sight of Burke, Fox, Sheridan, and Sir
Joshua Reynolds in the pit. She invited us to a private
reading-party at her own house : present only her
daughter, a very pretty young lady, a Mrs. Wilkinson,
Mr. Burney, Dr. Holland, Lydia White, Mr. Harness,
and ourselves. She read one of her finest parts, and
that best suited to a private room — Queen Katherine.
She was dressed so as to do well for the two parts she
was to perform this night, of gentlewoman and queen —
black velvet, with black velvet cap and feathers. She
sat the whole time, and with a large Shakespeare before
her ; as she knew the part of Katherine by heart, she
seldom required the help of glasses, and she recited it
incomparably well : the changes of her countenance were
striking. From her first burst of indignation when she
objects to the Cardinal as her judge, to her last expiring
scene, was all so perfectly natural and so touching, we
could give no applause but tears. Mrs. Siddons is
beautiful even at this moment. Some who had seen her
on the stage in this part assured me that it had a much
greater effect upon them in a private room, because they
were near enough to see the changes of her countenance,
and to hear the pathos of her half-suppressed voice.
Some one said that, in the dying scene, her very pillow
seemed sick.

She spoke afterwards of the different parts which she
had liked and disliked to act ; and when she mentioned
the characters and scenes she had found easy or difficult,
it was curious to observe that the feelings of the actress
and the sentiments and reasons of the best critics meet.

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 423

Whatever was not natural, or inconsistent with the main
part of the character, she found she never could act well.
We spent three days at Easter at the Deepdene ; the
company there were Mr. C. Moore, Mr. Philip Henry
Hope, Mr. and Miss Burrowes, Mr. Harness, Lord Fin-
castle, Lady Clare and Lady Isabella Fitzgibbon, and
Lord Archibald Hamilton. Deepdene is beautiful at
this time of the year — the hawthorn hedges, the tender
green of the larch and the sycamore in full leal

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

HOLLES STREET, April 20.

We are going at two o'clock, and it is now half past
one, to a private view of Sir John Swinburne's pictures,
and we are to dine nine miles out of town, at Plasket
House, with Mrs. Fry.

Barry Fox came yesterday to Grove House, and looked
much like a gentleman, as he is, and seemed pleased
with his cousins, as well he might be.

I wish, my dearest mother, you would write a note to
Dr. Holland in your next ; he has been so kind and
sympathizing.1 Miss Bessy Holland has come to stay
some weeks with her brother — good for her, and for us ;
she is very amiable. I find a card from Jeffrey was
left here while we were at Grove House.

Just returned from water-color pictures; some of
Prout's of old towns abroad, like Chester ; met there —
not at Chester — Lord Grey, Wilkie, Mulready, Lord
Eadstock, and the Miss Waldegraves, and Lady Stafford,
who has more ready and good five minutes' conversation

1 On the death of Miss Edgeworth's beloved "aunt," Miss Charlotte
Sneyd of Edgeworthstown.

424 MARIA EDGEWORTH [APRIL

than anybody I know. She says the French have lost
all their national recollections ; in traveling through
France she asked for various places famous in history, of
which they had lost all memory.

Carriage at the door, and I have not begun to dress !

April 24.

The day before yesterday we saw Mrs. Tuite at Lady
Sunderlin's. They have an admirable house. Miss Kitty
Malone sees, and is most grateful for it.

Mrs. Fry's place at Flasket is beautiful, and she is
delightful at home or at Newgate.

Paid a visit to Lady Derby ; full as agreeable as when
we saw her, half as fat, and twice as old ; asked most
kindly for you, and received your daughters with gracious
grace.

Monday, went with Mr. Cohen and Mr. Cockerell to
St. Paul's ; he showed us his renovations done in excel-
lent taste. Dined at Miss White's with Mr. Luttrell,
Mr. Hallam, Mr. Sharpe, and Mr. and Mrs. Stewart
Nicholson ; she is Lady Davy's half-sister. Most agree-
able conversation ; no dinners more agreeable than Lydia
White's. Poor creature ! how she can go through it I
cannot imagine : she is dying. It is dreadful to look at
her!

In the evening at Miss Stable's, Anna's friend ; met
there Mrs. Cunliffe, who was Miss Crewe, very agreeable ;
and, though not regularly handsome, very pleasing in
countenance and person.

Tuesday, spent a happy hour at the Museum. We
dined at Mrs. Marcet's, with only herself and children.
Then to an "at home," at Mrs. Ricardo's, merely for ten

1822] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 425

minutes, to see the famous Mr. Hume. Don't like him
much ; attacks all things and persons, never listens, has
no judgment.

May 3.

Since Harriet last wrote we have been to Harrow to
hear the speeches of the first class of boys, our future
orators. It was a very interesting scene, attended by
many ladies, as well as gentlemen. Two of the speeches
were from " Henry IV.," one the crown tried on, well re-
peated. The situation of the school is beautiful, the
lawn laid out with great taste ; the master, Dr. Butler,
a very well-informed agreeable man, with a picturesque
head. We had a very elegant collation, and I sat beside
a very agreeable thin old nobleman of the old school,
Lord Clarendon. Upon the whole, after hearing the
speeches and recitations of these youths, I said to myself,
how much better my father taught to read and recite
than any of these masters can.

May 10.

The sudden death of the Primate 1 and the horrible
circumstances attending it have incapacitated me from
any more home-writing at this moment. Mrs. Stuart
gave him the medicine ; he had twice asked for his
draught, and when she saw the servant come in she ran
down, seized the bottle, and poured it out without look-
ing at the label, which was most distinct " for external
application." When dying, and when struggling under
the power of the opium, he called for a pencil and wrote
these words for a comfort to his wife : "I could not
have lived long, my dear love, at all events."

l Hon. William Stuart, Archbishop of Armagh, fifth son of the third
Earl of Bute ; he married Sophia, daughter of Thomas Penn of Stoke.
Poges.

426 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MAT

May 22.

I inclose a note from Lady Louisa Stuart, the Pri-
mate's sister ; it is most touching, especially the account
of the feelings of his parishioners.

We have been at the Caledonian ball — Harriet has
written a description of it to Pakenham ; and also to a
very pleasant dance at Mrs. Shaw Lefevre's,1 where
Fanny and Harriet had good partners.

I have subscribed £10 to the Irish poor subscription.
Spring Rice, whom I very much like, tells me he has
been touched to the heart by the generous eagerness with
which the English merchants and City people have con-
tributed to this fund. A very large sum is already at
his disposal, and he has wisely considered that if this
money be not judiciously applied it will do more harm
than good. He has done me the honor to consult me
about his plan, of which I inclose a copy.

At Captain Rater's breakfast yesterday we met Green-
ough, Captain Beaufort, Warburton, and young Herschel,
a man of great abilities,2 to whom Sir Humphry Davy
paid an elegant compliment the other day in a speech as
President to the Royal Society. "His father must
rejoice in such a son, who secures to him a double
immortality."

Just received yours of the 17th. Curious that you
should have been saying to me the same thing I was
saying to you about the Irish subscriptions. Poor Peggy
Mulheeran ! her letter is most pathetic. Fanny and
Harriet are at this moment dining at dear Mrs. Lushing-

1 Daughter of Lady Elizabeth Whitbread, married to Charles Shaw
Lefevre, afterwards Viscount Eversley.

2 Afterwards Sir John Herschel, the famous astronomer and philoso-
pher.

TO MRS. EDGEWOBTH 427

ton's, and I at going alone to a dinner at Lydiars, to
meet Sydnej Smith — tfcy come in the eTening. We
met Lad j Byron lately at Its. Lushington's. Dinner at
Lord and Lady Dandey's — all manner of •**""Jimin
Greenough has been most kind ; admirable collection of
fossils — taking out all his thousand drawers for us.
Bellman.

In the hurried life we hare led for some weeks past,
and among the great variety of iUustrious and foolish
people we hare seen pass in rapid panoramas before us,
some remain forever fixed in the memory, and some few
touch the heart We hare just breakfasted with Spring
Rice and Lady Theodosia. She IMA a. placid, amiable,
and winning countenance — jMiatlj curly-haired children,
such as you or Sir Joshua would paint.

At this breakfast were Mr. Bice's sister, Lady Hunt,
a charming woman ; Mr. Grant, our late secretary, with
sense, goodness, and ftadolgnce in his countenance ; and
Mr. Randolph, the American, very tall and thin, as if a
stick, instead of shoulders, stretched out his coat ; his
hair tied behind with a black ribbon, but not pig-tailed,
it flows from the ribbon, like old Steele's, with a curl at
the end, mired brown and gray; his face wrinkled like
a peach-stone, but all pliable, muscles moving with every
sensation of a feeling *wwl and lively imagination ; quick
dark eyes, with an indefinable expression of acquired
habitual mililTiininn^ in despite of nature; his tone of
voice mild and repressed, yet in this voice he speaks
thoughts that breathe and words that burn ; he is one
of the most eloquent men I ever heard speak, and there
is a novelty in his view of things, and in his new world

428 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

of allusions, in art and nature, which is highly interest-
ing.

Besides the pleasure we should naturally have taken
in his conversation, we have been doubly pleased by his
gratifying attention to ourselves, and, my dearest mother,
still more by the manner in which he distinguished your
Francis,1 who was with us. Spring Rice told us that
Mr. Abercromby, who had met him at Joanna Baillie's,
told him he was one of the finest and most promising
boys he had ever seen.

Do, for heaven's sake, some good soul or body, write
forthwith to Black Castle, and learn whether Aunt Rux-
ton likes the gown I sent her — gray cloth. If not, I
will get her another.

FKOGNEL, HAMPSTEAD, June 3.

A few lines ever so short and hurried are better than
none. We gave up our house and paid all our bills on
Saturday ; left London and came to Frognel 2 — delicious
Frognel! Haymaking — profusion of flowers — rhodo-
dendrons as fine as four of mine, flowering down to the
grass. All our friends with open arms on steps in the
veranda to receive us.

A large party of Southebys, etc., including Mrs. Tuite,
put by for future description. Second day : Wollaston,
Dr. and Miss Holland. Harriet sat beside Wollaston at
dinner, and he talked unusually, veiling for her the
terror of his beak and lightning of his eye. He has
indeed been very kind and amiable in distinguishing
your daughters as worth speaking to.

To-day I came to town with Mrs. Carr, and my sisters,

1 Her half-brother, son of Mrs. Edgeworth.
a To Mr. Carr's.

1822] TO MKS. EDGEWORTH 429

and the Miss Cans, and they went to a Prison Discipline
meeting to hear Mackintosh speak ; but I was not able to
go, and have done worlds of business since.

We have changed our plans a little ; going to Ports-
mouth first, and to Slough on our return : we were to
have gone by Slough, but the Prince of Denmark and
the King going to Ascot took up all horses and beds, so
we were obliged to go the other road.

51 MANCHESTER STREET, LONDON, June 10.

We have accomplished, much to our satisfaction, our
long-intended journey to Portsmouth. On Tuesday, at
nine o'clock in the morning, we found ourselves, accord-
ing to appointment, in our own dear carriage, at your
brother's door, and he and Francis seated themselves on
the barouche seat. The weather was bronzing and melt-
ing hot, but your brother would insist on being bronzed
and melted there during the heat of the day, in a stoical
style disdaining a parasol, though why it should be more
unmanly to use a parasol than a parapluie I cannot, for
the sense of me, understand.

Lady'Grey, wife of the commissioner, — he is away, —
ordered all the works and dockyard to be open to us,
and the Government boat to attend upon us ; saw the
Nelson — just finished; and went over the Phaeton,
and your brother showed us his midshipman's berth and
his lieutenant's cabin. And now for the Block ma-
chinery, you will say, but it is impossible to describe
this in a letter of moderate or immoderate size. I will
only say that the ingenuity and successful performance
far surpassed my expectations. Machinery so perfect,
appears to act with the happy certainty of instinct and
the foresight of reason combined.

430 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JcNE

We took a barge to the Isle of Wight — charming
day. You take a sociable, and the Felicity-hunter goes
in it as far as the horses can take him. It was the most
gratifying thing to me to see " Uncle Francis " and all
of them so happy. We slept at Steephill ; and in the
morning went to see Carisbrook Castle. Dined at Ports-
mouth with Sir James and Lady Lyon.

But oh, my dear mother, at the little pretty flowery
lawned inn where we dined on our way to Slough, as
your brother was reading the newspaper, he came to the
death of our dear Mr. Smith, of Easton Grey. At Sir
Benjamin Hobhouse's, a few months ago, he was the
gayest of the gay, and she the fondest and happiest of
wives.

At Slough we saw the great telescope — never used
now. Drove to Windsor — building and terrace equal
to my expectations. At night the clouds were so good
as to disperse, and we saw a double star.

Miss Edgeworth's wonderful conversational powers,
combined with her homely aspect, and perfectly unas-
suming manners, made a great impression upon many of
those who met her in London. Ticknor says of Maria
Edgeworth : " There was a life and spirit about her con-
versation, she threw herself into it with such abandon,
she retorted with such brilliant repartee, and, in short,
she talked with such extraordinary flow of natural talent,
that I don't know whether anything of the kind could
be finer."

On 27th June Miss Edgeworth returned with her
half-sisters to Edgeworthstown, taking up the thread of
her domestic affairs as if there had been no interrup-

TO MRS. EUXTON 431

tion, and she immediately set to work on the sequel to
" Harry and Lucy."

TO MRS. RtTXTON.

EDGEWOBTHSTOWN, July 23, 1822.

Honora is staying at Lough Glyn with Mr. and Mrs.
Strickland; they are making judicious and incessant
exertions for the relief of the poor and the improvement
of the people in their neighborhood. It is very extraor-
dinary that, in the part of the County of Monaghan to
which Mr. Strickland went last week for flaxseed for
the poor tenants in his neighborhood, he found that
there is plenty of everything — no distress felt. The
famine seems to have been as capricious as the malaria
in passing over some places and settling upon others.
Here we go on in our parish without having recourse to
public subscription.

August 7.

We have just returned, all of us, from walking two
miles on the Mullingar road, in hopes of meeting Francis,
who was expected in a chaise from Mullingar, as the
coach sleeps there. Just as we had reached the hall
door by moonlight, in despair, we heard a doubtful noise,
which none but a maternal ear — a very nice ear on
some occasions — could judge whether of cart or chaise:
it was a chaise, with Francis in it ; and here he is, one
of the most agreeable and happy boys I ever saw.

I have written to Walter Scott, claiming his promise

of coming here; but I doubt his being in Ireland: I

agree with you that his play J is very stupid. Joanna

Baillie suggested the subject, and he wrote it as a contri-

1 ffalidon Hill

432 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [Auo.

bution to a miscellany formed of voluntaries from all
the poets and wits of the day, to make a fund for some
widowed friend of hers in great distress. He wrote it
with good intentions; but, as Madame de Stae'l says,
" Les bons intentions ne sont pour rien dans les ouvrages
d'esprit."

Never read " The Lollards " if it falls in your way,
unless you like to see John Huss burned over again.
What pleasure have people in such horrid subjects !

You ask me what I am doing besides " Early Lessons,"
and if I have made any progress in " Travelers." * Do
you think, my dearest aunt, that I can write "Early
Lessons" with my left hand and "Travelers" with my
right ? You have too good an opinion of my dexterity.
I assure you it is all I can do to satisfy myself tolerably
as I go on with this sequel to " Harry and Lucy," which
engages all my attention. I am particularly anxious to
finish that well, as it was my dear father's own and first
book. As it must be more scientific than the other
"Early Lessons," it is more difficult to me, who have so
little knowledge on those subjects, and am obliged to go
so warily, lest I should teach error, or pretend to teach
what I do not know. I have written about" fifty pages.
I fear you will not like it as well as you were so kind as
to like " Frank." I could never be easy writing any-
thing else for my own amusement till I have done this,
which I know my father wished to have finished. You
will see in Dr. Holland's letter some admirable hints for
" Travelers," and I expect many more from you, dear
aunt : we will talk it over in the days of October. How

1 A tale she had thought of writing, but she never even made a
sketch of it.

1822] TO MRS. RUXTON 433

many things we have talked over together ! " Kack-
rent" especially, which you first suggested to me, and
encouraged me to go on with.

August 10.

My dear aunt, I know how you must have been
shocked when you heard of the manner of Lord London-
derry's death. As Dr. Holland says, " if we were to
have looked from one end of the British Empire to the
other, we could not have pitched on an individual that
seemed less likely to commit suicide."

Whitbread, Sir Samuel Komilly, Lord Londonderry —
all to perish in the same manner !

September 10.

In this frank you will receive a copy of a very inter-
esting letter from Fanny Stewart. The post and steam
vessels bring the most distant parts of the world now so
much within our reach that friends cannot be much more
separated by being at " Nova Zembla, or the Lord knows
where," than by being in different counties of the same
kingdom. There is Fanny Stewart dining with Sneyd's
friends, the Bishop of Quebec's family ; and young Moun-
tain was in Switzerland when we were at Interlaken with
Sneyd and Henrica, and the year before at Ardbraccan
and Edgeworthstown. Things are odd till they pair off,
and so become even. Sneyd and Henrica, who were at
Geneva, have been invited to the Baron Polier's, near
Lausanne, the brother of Madame de Montolieu, whom
I told you of. Madame Polier was the intimate friend
of an intimate friend of Henrica' s, Miss French of Derby,
who has married a Cambridge friend of Sneyd's, Mr.
Smedley, and they are now on a visit at the said Madame

434 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [SEPT.

Polier's — a Derbyshire party in the heart of Switzer-
land, and by various connections felted together!

When Honora is on the sofa beside you, make her give
you an account of Francis's play, " Catiline," which he
and Fanny, and Harriet and Sophy, and James Moilliet
and Pakenham got up without our being in the secret, and
acted the night before last, as it were impromptu, to our
inexpressible surprise and pleasure. Francis, during his
holidays with us in London, used to be often scribbling
something ; but I never inquired or guessed what it was.
Fanny and Harriet, in the midst of the hurry of London
dissipation, and of writing all manner of notes, etc., for
me, and letters home innumerable, contrived to copy out
fair for him all his scraps ; and when put together they
made a goodly tragedy in two acts, wonderfully well
written for his age — some parts, for any age, excellent.

After tea the library became empty suddenly of all
the young people. My aunt Mary, my brother Lovell,
and I remaining with Quin, who had dined here, talking
on, never missed them ; and the surprise was as great as
heart could wish when my mother put into our hands
the play-bills, and invited us to follow her to her dress-
ing-room.

CATIUXE.
A Tragedy, in Two Acts.

Catiline (in love with Aurelia) . . Francis.

Cato (father of Aurelia) . . . Pakenham.

Cicero (in love with Aurelia) . . Harriet.

Caesar . . . . . . . Moilliet.

Aurelia (daughter of Cato) . . Sophy.

Julia (wife to Cato) .... Fanny.

1822] TO MRS. RUXTON 435

We found Lucy on her sofa, with her feet towards the
greenhouse ; a half-circle of chairs for the audience, with
their backs touching the wardrobe — candlestick foot-
lights, well shaded with square sofa-cushions standing
on end.

Prologue spoken by Harriet ; curtain drew back, and
Catiline and Aurelia appeared. Fanny had dressed
Francis, from Rennet's " Antiquities," out of an old rag-
chest, and a more complete little Roman figure I never
saw, though made up no mortal can tell how, like one of
your own doings, dear aunt, with a crown of ilex leaves.
Aurelia was perfectly draped in my French crimson shawl ;
she looked extremely classical and pretty, and her voice
was so sweet, and her looks alternately so indignant to
Catiline and so soft when she spoke of the man she loved,
that I do not wonder Catiline was so desperately en-
amored.

Pakenham was wonderful : he had received no instruc-
tions. They had determined to leave him to himself,
and see what would come of it. He had brought down
an old wig from the garret, and Catiline and Cato could
not settle which it became best or worst ; so Catiline
wore his ilex crown, and Pakenham a scarlet cap and
black velvet cloak, his eyebrows and chin darkened, a
most solemn, stern countenance, a roll of white paper in
his hand, the figure immovable, as if cut in stone : the
soul of Cato seemed to have got into him. I never heard
any actor speak better, nor did I ever see a part better
sustained ; it seemed as if one saw Cato through a dimin-
ishing glass. In one scene he interrupts Cicero, who is
going off into a fine simile — " Enough : the tale." He
said these three words so well, with such severity of

436 MABIA EDGEWORTH

tone, and such a piercing look, that I see and hear him
still. His voice was as firm as a man's, and his self-
possession absolute. He had his part so perfectly, that
he was as independent of the prompter as of all the rest
of the world.

Moilliet recited and played his part of Caesar wondrous
welL You may think how well Pakenham and all of
them must have acted, when we could stand the ridicule
of Pakenham's Cato opposite to Moilliet's Caesar. One
of James Moilliet's eyes would have contained all the
eyes of Cato, Catiline, and Cicero. Fanny, as Julia, was
beautiful

BLACK CASTLE, December 6, 1822.

How do you all do, my dear friends, after last night's
hurricane ? J Have any trees been blown away ?
Has the spire stood ? Is Madgy Woods alive ? How
many roofs of houses in the town have been blown away,
and how many hundred slates and panes of glass must be
replaced? The glass dome over the staircase at Ard-
braccan has been blown away ; two of the saloon windows
blown in. The servants in this house sat up all night ;
I slept soundly. My aunt, roused at an unwonted hour
from her bed this morning, stood at the foot of mine
while I was yet dreaming ; and she avers that when she
told me that eight trees and the great green gates were
blown down, that I sat up in my bed, and, opening one
eye, answered, "Is it in the newspaper, ma'am ? "
When I came out to breakfast, the first object I beheld
was the uprooted elms lying prostrate opposite the break-

1 Numbers of the finest trees were blown down. The staircase sky-
light was blown away, and the lead which surrounded it rolled up as
neatly as if just oat of the plumber's : roofs were torn off and cabins
blown down.

1823] TO MBS. O'BEIRNE 437

fast-room windows ; and Mr. Fitzherbert says more than
a hundred are blown down in the uplands.

Now I have done with the hurricane, I must tell you
a dream of Bess's : she thought she went to call upon a
lady, and found her reading a pious tract called " The
Penitent Poodle " !

TO MBS. O'BEIRNE.

BLACK CASTLE, January 15, 1823.

We are delighted with " Peveril," though there is too
much of the dwarfs and the elfie. Scott cannot deny
himself one of these spirits in some shape or other ; I
hope that we shall find that this elfin page, who has the
power of shrinking or expanding, as it seems, to suit the
occasion, is made really necessary to the story. I think
the dwarf more allowable and better drawn than the
page, true to history, and consistent; but Finella is
sometimes handsome enough to make duke and king
ready to be in love with her, and sometimes an odious
little fury, clinching her hands, and to be lifted up or
down stairs out of the hero's way. The indistinctness
about her is not that indistinctness which belongs to the
sublime, but that which arises from unsteadiness in the
painter's hand when he sketched the figure. He touched
and retouched at different times, without having, as it
seems, a determined idea himself of what he would make
her ; nor had he settled whether she should bring with
her " airs from heaven," or blasts from that place which
is never named to ears polite.

In May, 1823, Miss Edgeworth took her half-sisters
Harriet and Sophy to Scotland. It was a very happy

438 MARIA EDGEWOBTH [JUNE

time to her, chiefly "because there she made an acquaint-
ance with Sir Walter Scott, which soon ripened into an
intimate and lasting friendship. He had already ad-
mired her stories, which he spoke of as " a sort of essence
of common sense."

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWOKTH.

KINNEIL, June 2, 1823.

I wish you were here with us. We arrived between
nine and ten last night. The seashore approaching
Kinneil House is exactly the idea I had of the road to
Glenthorn Castle ; the hissing sound of the wheels and all,
and at last the postilion stopped where one road sloped
directly down into the Frith of Forth, and another
turned abruptly uphill. He said, " This is a-going into
the water ; I ha' come the wrong way." And up the
narrow road up the hill he went and turned the carriage,
and down again, and back the road we had come some
little distance, and splash across to a road on the opposite
side, and then by the oddest back way that seemed to be
leading us into the stables, till at last we saw the door
of the real house, an old but whitewashed castle-mansion.
A short-faced old butler in black came out of a sort of
sentry-box back door to receive us, and through odd
passages and staircases we reached the drawing-room,
where we found fire and candles, and Mrs. Stewart and
a young tall man ; Mrs. Stewart, just as you saw her at
Bowood, received Harriet and Sophy in her arms, spoke
of their dear mother and of Honora, and seated us on
the sofa, and told Sophy to open a letter from Fanny,
which she put into her hand, and " feel herself at home,"
which indeed we did. The tall young man was no

1823] TO MISS HONOEA EDGEWOKTH 439

hindrance to this feeling; an intimate friend, a Mr.
Jackson, who has been staying with Mr. Stewart as his
companion ever since his illness.

We passed through numerous ante-chambers, nooks,
and halls — broad white stone corner staircase, winding
with low-arched roof. Our two rooms open into one
another — mine large, with four black doors, one locked
and two opening into closets, and back stairs, and if you
mount to another story, all the rooms are waste garrets.
Mrs. Stewart told us this morning that there were plenty
of ghosts at our service belonging to Kinneil House.
One in particular, Lady Lilyburn, who is often seen all
in white, as a ghost should be, and with white wings,
fluttering on the top of the castle, from whence she leaps
into the sea — a prodigious leap of three or four hundred
yards, — nothing for a well-bred ghost. At other times
she wears boots, and stumps up and down stairs in them,
and across passages, and through bedchambers, frighten-
ing ladies' maids and others. We have not heard her
yet.

When we looked out of our windows this morning we
saw fine views, and in the shrubbery near the house some
of the largest lilacs I ever saw, in rich flower. From
another window, half a mile length of avenue, with gates
through which we should by rights have approached the
front of the house. But all this time I have not said
one word of what I had intended to be the subject of
this : Lanark and Mr. Owen's school. I am called down
to Lady Anna Maria Elliot ; 1 my mother may remember
her in former days — she is said to be like Di Vernon.
1 Afterwards Countess Russell.

440 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

TO MRS. RUXTON.

EDINBURGH, 32 ABERCEOMBY PLACE,
June 8, 1823.

You have had our history up to Kinneil House. Mr.
and Miss Stewart accompanied us some miles on our
road to show us the palace of Linlithgow — very inter-
esting to see, but not to describe. The drive from
Linlithgow to Edinburgh is nothing extraordinary, but
the road approaching the city is grand, and the first
view of the castle and " mine own romantic town "
delighted my companions; the day was fine and they
were sitting outside on the barouche seat — a seat which
you, my dear aunt, would not have envied them with all
their fine prospects. By this approach to Edinburgh,
there are no suburbs ; you drive at once through magnifi-
cent broad streets and fine squares. All the houses are
of stone, darker than the Ardbraccan stone, and of a kind
that is little injured by weather or time. Margaret Ali-
son l had taken lodgings for us in Abercromby Place —
finely built, with hanging shrubbery garden, and the house
as delightful as the situation. As soon as we had un-
packed and arranged our things the evening of our arrival,
we walked, about ten minutes' distance from us, to our
dear old friends, the Alisons. We found them shawled
and bonneted, just coming to see us. Mr. Alison and
Sir Walter Scott had settled that we should dine the
first day after our arrival with Mr. Alison, which was
just what we wished ; but on our return home we found
a note from Sir Walter :

1 Margaret, daughter of Dr. James Gregory, married to William
Pulteney Alison, Professor of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh.

1823] TO MRS. EUXTON 441

"DEAR Miss EDGEWORTH,

" I have just received your kind note, just when I had
persuaded myself it was most likely I should see you in
person or hear of your arrival. Mr. Alison writes to me
you are engaged to dine with him to-morrow, which puts
Eoslin out of the question for that day, as it might keep
you late. On Sunday I hope you will join our family-
party at five, and on Monday I have asked one or two of
the Northern Lights on purpose to meet you. I should
be engrossing at any time, but we shall be more disposed
to be so just now, because on the 12th I am under the
necessity of going to a different kingdom (only the king-
dom of Fife) for a day or two. To-morrow, if it is
quite agreeable, I will wait on you about twelve, and
hope you will permit me to show you some of our
improvements.

"I am always,

" Most respectfully yours,

" WALTER SCOTT.
" EDINBURGH, Friday.

" POSTSCRIPT. — Our old family coach is licensed to
carry six ; so take no care on that score. I inclose
Mr. Alison's note ; truly sorry I could not accept the
invitation it contains.

" POSTSCRIPT. — My wife insists I shall add that the
Laird of Staffa promised to look in on us this evening at
eight or nine, for the purpose of letting us hear one of
his clansmen sing some Highland boat-songs and the
like, and that if you will come, as the Irish should to
the Scotch, without any ceremony, you will hear what
is perhaps more curious than mellifluous, The man

442 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

returns to the isles to-morrow. There are no strangers
with us ; no party ; none but all our own family and
two old friends. Moreover, all our womankind have
been calling at Gibbs's hotel, so if you are not really
tired and late, you have not even pride, the ladies' last
defense, to oppose to this request. But, above all, do
not fatigue yourself and the young ladies. No dressing
to be thought of."

Ten o'clock struck as I read the note ; we were tired
— we were not fit to be seen ; but I thought it right to
accept " Walter Scott's " cordial invitation ; sent for a
hackney-coach, and just as we were, without dressing,
went. As the coach stopped, we saw the hall lighted,
and the moment the door opened, heard the joyous
sounds of loud singing. Three servants — " The Miss
Edgeworths" sounded from hall to landing-place, and
as I paused for a moment in the anteroom, I heard the
first sound of Walter Scott's voice — " The Miss Edge-
worths come"

The room was lighted by only one globe lamp. A
circle were singing loud and beating time — all stopped
in an instant, and Walter Scott in the most cordial and
courteous manner stepped forward to welcome us : " Miss
Edgeworth, this is so kind of you ! "

My first impression was, that he was neither so large
nor so heavy in appearance as I had been led to expect
by description, prints, bust, and picture. He is more
lame than I expected, but not unwieldy ; his coun-
tenance, even by the uncertain light in which I first saw
it, pleased me much; benevolent, and full of genius
without the slightest effort at expression; delightfully

1823] TO MRS. RUXTON 443

natural, as if he did not know lie was Walter Scott or
the Great Unknown of the North, as if he only thought
of making others happy.1 After naming to us " Lady
Scott, Staffa, my daughter Lockhart, Sophia, another
daughter Anne, my son, my son-in-law Lockhart," just
in the broken circle as they then stood, and showing me
that only his family and two friends, Mr. Clark and
Mr. Sharpe, were present, he sat down for a minute
beside me on a low sofa, and on my saying, " Do not
let us interrupt what was going on," he immediately
rose and begged Staffa to bid his boatman strike up
again. " Will you then join in the circle with us ? "
He put the end of a silk handkerchief into my hand,
and others into my sisters' ; they held by these handker-
chiefs all in their circle again, and the boatman began
to roar out a Gaelic song, to which they all stamped in
time and repeated the chorus, which, as far as I could
hear, soonded like " At am Vaun ! At am Vaun ! "
frequently repeated with prodigious enthusiasm. In

i Miss Edgeworth describes Sir Walter Scott in her Helen: "If you
have seen Raeburn's admirable pictures, or Chantrey's speaking bust,
you have as complete an idea of Sir Walter Scott as painting or sculp-
ture can give. The first impression of his appearance and manner was
surprising to me, I recollect, from its quiet, unpretending good nature ;
but scarcely had that impression been made, before I was struck with
something of the chivalrous courtesy of other times. In his conversa-
tion you would have found all that is most delightful in all his works —
the combined talents and knowledge of the historian, novelist, antiquary,
and poet. He recited poetry admirably, his whole face and figure kind-
ling as he spoke; but whether talking, reading, or reciting, he never
tired me, even with admiring. And it is curious that, in conversing
with him, I frequently found myself forgetting that I was speaking
with Sir Walter Scott; and, what is even more extraordinary, forget-
ting that Sir Walter Scott was speaking to me, till I was awakened to
the conviction by his saying something which no one else could have
said. Altogether, he was certainly the most perfectly agreeable and
perfectly amiable great man I ever knew."

444 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

another I could make out no intelligible sound but
" Bar ! bar ! bar ! " But the boatman's dark eyes were
ready to start out of his head with rapture as he sung
and stamped, and shook the handkerchief on each side,
and the circle imitated.

Lady Scott is so exactly what I had heard her
described, that it seemed as if we had seen her before.
She must have been very handsome — French dark large
eyes ; civil and good natured. Supper at a round table,
a family supper, with attention to us, just sufficient and
no more. The impression left on my mind this night
was, that Walter Scott is one of the best-bred men I
ever saw, with all the exquisite politeness which he
knows so well how to describe, which is of no par-
ticular school or country, but which is of all countries,
the politeness which arises from good and quick sense
and feeling, which seems to know by instinct the char-
acters of others, to see what will please, and put all his
guests at their ease. As I sat beside him at supper,
I could not believe he was a stranger, and forgot he was
a great man. Mr. Lockhart is very handsome, quite
unlike his picture in Peters's letters.

When we wakened in the morning, the whole scene
of the preceding night seemed like a dream ; however,
at twelve came the real Lady Scott, and we called for
Scott at the Parliament House, who came out of the
Courts with joyous face as if he had nothing on earth to
do or to think of, but to show us Edinburgh. Seeming
to enjoy it all as much as we could, he carried us to
Parliament House — Advocate's Library, Castle, and
Holyrood House. His conversation all the time better
than anything we could see, full of apropos anecdote,

1823] TO MES. EUXTON 445

historic, serious or comic, just as occasion called for it,
and all with a bonhomie and an ease that made us for-
get it was any trouble even to his lameness to mount
nights of eternal stairs. 'Chantrey's statues of Lord
Melville and President Blair are admirable. There is
another by Roubillac, of Duncan Forbes, which is ex-
cellent. Scott is enthusiastic about the beauties of
Edinburgh, and well he may be, the most magnificent as
well as the most romantic of cities.

We dined with the dear good Alisons. Mr. Alison
met me at the drawing-room door, took me in his arms,
and gave me a hearty hug. I do not think he is much
altered, only that his locks are silvered over. At this
dinner were, besides his two sons and two daughters,
and Mrs. Alison, Mr. and Mrs. Skene. In one of Scott's
introductions to "Marmion" you will find this Mr.
Skene, Mr. Hope, the Scotch Solicitor-General (it is
curious the Solicitor-Generals of Scotland and Ireland
should be Hope and Joy !), Dr. Brewster, and Lord
Meadowbank, and Mrs. Maconachie, his wife. Mr.
Alison wanted me to sit beside everybody, and I wanted
to sit by him, and this I accomplished ; on the other
side was Mr. Hope, whose head and character you will
find in Peters' s letters : he was very entertaining. Sophy
sat beside Dr. Brewster, and had a great deal of conver-
sation with him.

Next day, Sunday, went to hear Mr. Alison ; his fine
voice but little altered. To me he appears the best
preacher I have ever heard. Dined at Scott's ; only his
own family, his friend Skene, his wife and daughter,
and Sir Henry Stewart ; I sat beside Scott ; I dare not
attempt at this moment even to think of any of the an-

446 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

ecdotes he told, the fragments of poetry he repeated, or
the observations on national character he made, lest I
should be tempted to write some of them for you. and
should never end this letter, which must be ended some
time or other. His strong affection for his early friends
and his country gives a power and a charm to his con-
versation, which cannot be given by the polish of the
London world and by the habit of literary conversation.

"Quentin Durward" was lying on the table. Mrs.
Skene took it up and said, " This is really too bare-
faced." Scott, when pointing to the hospital built by
Heriot, said, " That was built by one Heriot, you know,
the jeweler, in Charles the Second's time."

There was an arch simplicity in his look, at which we
could hardly forbear laughing.

June 23.

I remember, my dearest aunt, how fond you used to
be of the song of Roslin Castle, and how fond my father
used to be of it, from having heard you sing it when
you were young. I think you charged me to see Koslin
if ever I came to Scotland ; this day I have seen it with
Walter Scott. It is about seven miles from Edinburgh,
I wish it had been twice as far ; Scott was so entertain-
ing and agreeable during the drive there and back again.
The castle is an ugly old ruin, not picturesque, but the
chapel is most beautiful, altogether the most beautiful
florid Gothic I ever saw. There is infinite variety in
the details of the ornaments, and yet such a unity in the
whole design and appearance that we admire at once the
taste and the ingenuity of the architect. I wished for
you, my dear aunt, continually during parts of the walk

1823] TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 447

by the river and through the woods — not during the
whole, for it would have been much too long. How
Walter Scott can find time to write all he writes I can-
not conceive : he appears to have nothing to think of but
to be amusing, and he never tires, though he is so enter-
taining — he far surpasses my expectation.

Mr. Lockhart is reserved and silent, but he appears
to have much sensibility under this reserve. Mrs.
Lockhart is very pleasing ; a slight elegant figure and
graceful simplicity of manner, perfectly natural. There
is something most winning in her affectionate manner to
her father : he dotes upon her.

TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH.

CALLANDER, June 20, 1823.

Here we are ! I can hardly believe we are really at
the place we have so long wished to see : we have really
been on Loch Katrine. We were fortunate in the day ;
it was neither too hot, nor too cold, nor too windy, nor
too anything.

The lake was quite as beautiful as I expected, but
that is telling you nothing, as you cannot know how
much I expected. Sophy has made some memorandum
sketches for home, though we are well aware that nei-
ther pen nor pencil can bring before you the reality.
William l says he does not, however, fear for Killarney,
even after our having seen this. Here are no arbutus,
but plenty of soft birch, and twinkling aspen, and dark
oak. On one side of the lake the wood has been within
these few years cut down. Walter Scott sent to offer

1 William, one of Miss Edgeworth's half-brothers, had joined his
sisters at Edinburgh.

448 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

the proprietor £500 for the trees on one spot, if he
would spare them ; but the offer came two days too late ;
the trees were stripped of their bark before his mes-
senger arrived. To us, who never saw this rock covered
with trees, it appeared grand in its bare boldness and
in striking contrast to the wooded island opposite. Tell
Fanny that, upon the whole, I think Farnham lakes as
beautiful as Loch Katrine ; as to mere beauty, perhaps
superior ; but where is the lake of our own, or any
other times, that has such delightful power over the
imagination by the recollections it raises ? As we were
rowed along, our boatman, happily our only guide,
named to us the points we most wished to see ; quietly
named them, without being asked, and seemingly with a
full belief that he was telling us plain facts, without
any flowers of speech. " There 's the place on that
rock, see yonder, where the king blew his horn."
" And there 's the place where the Lady of the Lake
landed." "And there is the Silver Strand, where you
see the white pebbles in the little bay yonder."
He landed us just at the spot where the lady

" From underneath an aged oak,
That slanted from the islet rock,"

shot her little skiff to the silver strand on the opposite
side. When William asked him if the king's dead
horse had been found, he smiled, and said he only knew
that bones had been found near where the king's horse
died, but he could not be sure that they were the bones
of King James's good steed. However, he seemed
quite as clear of the existence of the Lady of the Lake,
and of all her adventures, as of the existence of Benledi
and Benvenue, and the Trossachs. He showed us the

1823] TO MISS LUCY EBGEWOKTH 449

place on the mountain of Benvenue, where formerly
there was no means of ascent but by the ladders of
broom and hazel twigs, where the king climbed,

" with footing nice,
A far-projecting precipice."

At the inn the mistress of the house lent me a copy
of the " Lady of the Lake," which I took out with me
and read while we were going to the lake, and while
Sophy was drawing. We saw an eagle hovering, and
moreover Sophy spied some tiny sea-larks flitting close
to the shore, and making their little, faint cry. Re-
turning, we marked the place where the armed High-
landers started up from the furzebrake before King
James, when Roderick Dhu sounded his horn, and we
settled which was the spot at

" Clan Alpine's outmost guard,"

where Roderick Dhu's safe conduct ceased, and where the
king and he had their combat.

I forgot to mention a little incident, which, though
very trifling, struck me at the moment. As I was walk-
ing on by myself on the road by the riverside leading
to the lake, I came up to a Highlander who was
stretched on the grass under a bush, while two little
boys in tartan caps were playing beside him. I stopped
to talk to the children, showed them my watch, and,
holding it to their ears, asked if they had ever seen the
inside of a watch ? They did not answer, but they did
not seem surprised, nor were they in the least shy. I
asked the man if they were his children ?

" Mine ! oh no ! they are the sons of Glengyle — the
Laird of Glengyle, he who lives at the upper end of the

450 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [JUNE

lake yonder — M'Greggor, that is, the M'Greggor, the
chief of the M'Greggor Clan."

Rob Roy and his wife and children rose up before my
imagination. Times have finely changed. It may be a
satisfaction to you, and all who admire Rob Roy, to
know that his burial-place is in a pretty, peaceful green
valley, where none will disturb him ; and all will
remember him for ages, thanks to Walter Scott, a man
he never kenned of, nor any of his second-sighted seers.
By the bye, Harriet on our journey read " Rob Roy " to
me, and I liked it ten times better than at the first read-
ing. My eagerness for the story being satisfied, I could
stop to admire the beauty of the writing : this happens
to many, I believe, on a second perusal of Scott's
works.

Finished at Tyndrum.

Very good inn at Callander, and another at Loch
Katrine — both raised by the genius of Scott as surely
and almost as quickly as the slave of the lamp raises the
palace of Aladdin. We spent one day and part of
another at Callander and Loch Katrine, and yesterday
went to, and slept at, Killin, along a very beautiful, fine,
wild, romantic road. At Killin took a very pretty walk
before tea, of about two miles and a half, and back again,
to see a waterfall, which fully answered our expecta-
tions : you see, I am very strong. I had taken another
walk in the morning to see the Bridge of Brackland,
another beautiful waterfall, with a six-inch bridge over
a chasm of rocks, which looked as if they had been
built together to imitate nature.

We are reading " Reginald Dalton," and like it very
much, the second volume especially, which will be very

1823] TO MISS RUXTON 451

useful, I think, and is very interesting. I am sure Mr.
Lockhart describes his own wife's singing when he
describes Ellen's.

We hope to reach Kong's House to-night, and at
Inverness we hope to find letters from home. We are
all well and happy, and this I am sure is the most
agreeable thing I can end with.

TO MISS RUXTON.

INVERNESS, BENNET'S HOTEL, July 3, 1823.

I sent a shabby note to my aunt some days ago,
merely to tell her that we had seen Eoslin ; and Sophy
wrote from Fort William of our visit to Fern Tower :
good house, fine place ; Sir David Baird a fine old sol-
dier, without an arm, but with a heart and a head : warm
temper, as eager about every object, great or small, as a
boy of fifteen. He swallows me, though an authoress,
wonderful well.

Our Highland tour has afforded me and my com-
panions great pleasure ; Sophy has enjoyed it thor-
oughly. William has had a number of objects in his
own line to interest him. From Fort William, which
is close to Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain,
we went to see a natural or artificial curiosity called the
Parallel Roads. On each side of a valley called Glen-
roy, through which the river Boy runs, there appear
several lines of terraces at different heights, correspond-
ing to each other on each side of the valley at the same
height. These terrace-roads are not quite horizontal :
they slope a little from the mountains. The learned
are at this moment fighting, in writing, much about
these roads. Some will have it that, in the days of

452 MARIA EDGE WORTH [JULY

Fingal, the Fingalians made them for hunting-roads, to
lie in ambush and shoot the deer from these long lines.
Others suppose that the roads were made hy the sub-
siding of a lake, which at different periods sank in this
valley, and at last made its way out. The roads, how-
ever made, are well worth seeing. We had a most
agreeable guide, not a professed guide, but a Highlander
of the Mackintosh Clan, an enthusiast for the beauties of
his own country, and, like the Swiss Chamouni guides,
quite a well-informed and, moreover, a fine-looking man,
with an air of active, graceful independence ; of whom
it might be said or sung, " He 's clever in his walking."
He spoke English correctly, but as a foreign language,
with book choice of expressions ; no colloquial or vulgar
phrases. He often seemed to take time to translate his
thoughts from the Gaelic into English. He knew
Scott's works, " Rob Roy " especially, and knew all the
theories about the Parallel Roads, and explained them
sensibly ; and gave us accounts of the old family feuds
between his own Mackintosh Clan and the Macdonalds,
pointing to places where battles were fought, with a zeal
which proved the feudal spirit still lives in its ashes.
When he found we were Irish, he turned to me, and all
reserve vanishing from his countenance, with brighten-
ing eyes he said, as he laid his hand on his breast,
" And you are Irish ! Now I know that, I would do
ten times as much for you if I could than when I
thought you were Southerns or English. We think the
Irish have, like ourselves, more spirit." He talked of
Ossian, and said the English could not give the force
of the original Gaelic. He sang a Gaelic song for us, to
a tune like " St. Patrick's Day in the Morning." He

1823] TO MISS KUXTON 453

called St. Patrick Phaedrig, by which name I did not
recognize him ; and our Highlander exclaimed, " Don't
you know your own saint ? " Sophy sang the tune for
him, with which he was charmed ; and when he heard
William call her Sophy, he said to himself, " Sophia
Western."

The next day we took a beautiful walk to the terri-
tory and near the residence of Lochiel, through a wood
where groups of clansmen and clanswomen were barking
trees that had been cut down ; and the fagoting and
piling the bark was as picturesque as heart could wish.

This day's journey was through fine wild Highland
scenery, where rocks and fragments of rocks were tum-
bled upon each other, as if by giants in a passion, and
now and then by giants playing at bowls with huge
round bowls. These roads — some of them for which we
" lift up our eyes and bless Marshal Wade," and some
made by Telford, the vast superiority in the laying out
of which William has had the pleasure of pointing out
to his sisters — beautifully wind over hill and through
valley, by the sides of streams and lakes. We saw the
eight locks joining .together on the Caledonian Canal,
called ^Neptune's Stairs; and at another place on the
canal William, who had been asleep, instinctively wak-
ened just in time to see a dredging-machine at work :
we stopped the carriage, and walked down to look at it ;
took a boat and rowed round the vessel, and went on
board and saw the machinery. A steam-engine works
an endless chain of buckets round and round upon a
platform with rollers. The buckets have steel mouth-
pieces, some with quite sharp projecting lips, which cut
into the sand and gravelly bottom, and scoop up what

454 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JULY

fills each bucket. At the bottom of each are cullender-
holes, through which the water drains off as the buckets
go on and pass over the platform and empty themselves
on an inclined plane, down which the contents fall into
a boat, which rows away when full, and deposits the
contents wherever wanted. If you ever looked at a
book at Edgeworthstown called " Machines Approuve's,"
you would have the image of this machine. It brought
my father's drawings of the Rhone machine before my
eyes.

The whole day's drive was delightful — mountains
behind mountains as far as the eye could reach, in every
shade, from darkest to palest Indian-ink cloud color ;
an ocean of mountains, with perpetually changing fore-
ground of rocks, sometimes bare as ever they were born,
sometimes wooded better than ever the hand of mortal
taste clothed a mountain in reality or in picture, with
oak, aspen, and the beautiful pendant birch.

At Fort Augustus the house was painting, and the
beds looked wretched ; but all was made plausible with
the help of fires and fair words, and we slept as well, or
better, than kings and queens. As to any real inconven-
ience at Highland inns, we have met with none ;
always good fish, good eggs, good butter, and good
humor.

Next day we had another delightful drive : saw the
Fall of Foyers ; fine scrambling up and down to a rock,
and on this rock such huge tumbledown stones, like
Druids' temples, half fallen, half suspended. The breath
was almost taken away and head dizzy looking at them
above and the depth below ; one could hardly believe we
stood safe. Yet here we are safe and sound at Inver-

1823] TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 455

ness, the Capital of the North, as Scott calls it. This
Bennet's Hotel, where we are lodged, is as good as any
in London or Edinburgh, and cleaner than almost any I
ever was in, with a waiter the perfection of intelligence.
We are going to see a place called the Dream, the name
translated from the Gaelic.

I forgot to tell you that, when at Edinburgh, we went
to see Sir James and Lady Foulis's friends, the Jardines,
who were also friends of Henry's. They are in a very
pretty house, Laverock Bank, a few miles from Edin-
burgh. We " felicity hunters " have found more felicity
than such hunters usually meet with.

TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH.

KINROSS, July 23, 1823.

I left off in my yesterday's letter to my mother just
as we were changing horses at Dunkeld, at six o'clock in
the evening, to go on to Perth ; but I had in that note
arrived prematurely at Dunkeld, and had not time to fill
up the history of our day. Be pleased, therefore, to go
back to Moulinan, and see us eat luncheon ; for, in spite
of Mr. Grant's contempt of these bon-vivant details,
habit will not allow me to depart from my Swiss, Pa-
risian, and English practice of giving the bill of fare.

First course, cold : two roast chickens, better never
were ; a ham, finer never seen, even at my mother's
luncheons ; pickled salmon, and cold boiled round.

Second course, hot : a large dish of little trout from
the river ; new potatoes, and, as I had professed to be
unable to venture on new potatoes, a dish of mashed
potatoes for me ; fresh greens, with toast over, and
poached eggs.

456 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [JULY

Then, a custard pudding, a gooseberry tart, and plenty
of Highland cream — highly superior to Lowland —
and butter, ditto.

And for all this how much did we pay ? Six shil-
lings.

Our drive in evening sunshine from Moulinan to
Dunkeld was delightful, along the banks, no longer of
the dear little, sparkling, foaming, fretting Garry, but of
the broad, majestic, quiet, dark, bottle-green colored
Tay ; the road a perfect gravel walk ; the bank, all the
way down between us and the river, copsewood, with
now and then a clump of fine tall larch, or a single ash
or oak, with spreading branches showing the water
beneath ; the mountain-side chiefly oak and alder, a tree
which I scarcely knew till Sophy mentioned it to me ;
sometimes the wood broken with glades of fern, heath,
and young stubble oaks, all the way up to white rocks
on the summit ; the young shoots of these stubble oaks
tinted with pink, so as to have in the evening sun the
appearance of autumn rich tints ; and between these oak
and the green fern and broom a giant race of foxglove,
which I verily believe, from the root to the spike, would
measure four good feet, all rich in bells of brightest
crimson, so bright that they crimsoned the whole bank.

All these ten miles of wooded road run, I understand,
through the territory of the Duke of Athol. Now I see
his possessions, I am sure I do not wonder the lady left
her lack-gold lover in the lurch for " Athol's duke."
Along the whole road he has raised a footpath, beauti-
fully graveled. Oh ! how I wish our walks had one
inch off the surface of this footpath, or that the African
magician, or the English equally potent magician of

TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 457

steam, could convey to my mother's elbow in the Dingle
one yard of one bank of the gravel which here wastes its
pebbles on the mountain-side ! How in a trice she
would summon round her her choice spirits, Briny Duffy,
Micky Mulheeran, and Mackin, and how they would
with shovel and loy fall to !

Through the wood at continual openings we saw
glimpses of beautiful paths or graveled walks, which this
munificent duke has made through his woods for the
accommodation of the public. I forgive him for being
like an overripe Orleans plum, and for not saying a
word, good or bad, the day we met him at Mr. Morrit's.

At Dunkeld, alas ! we bade adieu to the dear High-
lands. I have not time now to tell you of Killiecrankie
and Dundee's Stone.

Arrived at Perth at nine o'clock : tea, with silver urn
and silver candlesticks, and all luxurious : cold chicken,
ham, and marmalade inclusive.

The drive from Perth this morning to Kinross is
beautiful, but in a more civilized and less romantic way
than our Highland scenery. We are now within view
of Lochlevin, Queen Mary's Island.

During this morning's drive, Sophy sang " In April,
when primroses blow," most charmingly. Her singing
was much admired in Edinburgh by Sir Walter Scott,
etc., but still more at Mrs. Macpherson's. One day, she
sang several of Moore's melodies, and some Scotch
songs. Mrs. Macpherson, who is excessively fond of
music, was so charmed, she told me afterwards she never
heard a voice she thought so sweet and clear, and un-
affected. She rejoiced to hear it without music, or any
accompaniment that could drown it, or spoil its distinct

458 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [JULY

simplicity. She observed what a charm there is in her
distinct pronunciation of the words, in her just emphasis,
and in her never forgetting the words, or keeping you in
any anxiety for her, or requiring to be pressed. " How
delightful," said she, " to have such an accomplishment,
such a power to please always with her, without requir-
ing instruments, or music-books, or any preparation." I
was afraid her singing of Scotch might not suit the
Scotch, and she never ventured it till we were at Mrs.
Macpherson's, who was quite charmed with it. Indeed,
her soft voice is very different from the screeching some
songstresses make, with vast execution. I am particu-
larly full of the pleasure of Sophy's singing at present,
because I felt so much delight from it when I was just
recovering from my illness. I did not think it was in
the nature of my body or soul to feel so much pleasure
from singing or music ; but the fact is as I tell you.
After three nights of pulse at ninety-six and delirium, in
which I one night saw the arches of E-oslin Chapel, with
roses of such brilliant light crowning them that I shut
my eyes to avoid the blaze ; and another night was
haunted with the words "A soldier 1 of the Forty-Second
has lost his portmanteau," and continual marching and
countermarching, and rummaging of Highland officers
and privates in search of it, and an officer laughing at me
and saying, " Don't you know this is a common High-
land saying, A soldier of the Forty-Second has lost his
portmanteau ? It means " — but he never could or
would tell me what it meant, when another officer said,
" Madam, there is a Lowland saying to match it ; " and

1 Miss Edgeworth had been reading Stewart's History of Highland
Regiments the day before she was taken ill with an attack of erysipelas.

1823] TO MISS LUCY EDGE WORTH 459

this also I could never hear. Another night the words
of a song called the " Banks of Aberfeldy " crossed my
imagination, and a fat, rubicund man stood before me,
continually telling me that he was " John Aberfeldy,
the -happy." I cannot tell you how this John Aberfeldy
tormented me. After these three horrible nights, when
I awoke with my tongue so parched I could not speak
till a spoonful of lemon-juice was inserted, I asked
Sophy to sing, and she directly sang, " Dear harp of my
country." I never shall forget the sort of pleasure ; it
soothed, it " rapt my " willing, not my " imprisoned
soul in elysium," and I was so happy to feel I could
again follow a rational chain of ideas, and comprehend
the words of the beautiful poetry, to which music added
such a charm and force. She sang, " Believe me, if all
those endearing young charms," and "Farewell, but
whenever you welcome the hour," and " Oh, Nanny,
wilt thou gang wi' me ? " and " Vive Henri Quatre ! "
which I love for the sake of Mrs. Henry Hamilton, and
for the sake of Lady Longford's saying to me, with a
mother's pride and joy in her enthusiastic eyes, " My
Caroline will sing to me at any time, in any inn, or any-
where." I am sure I may say the same of my sister
Sophy, who will sing for me at an inn by my sick-bed,
and with more power of voice than all the stimulus of
company and flattery can draw from other young ladies.
I never wish to hear a fine singer ; I always agree with
Dr. Johnson in wishing that the difficulties had been
impossibilities, with all their falsettos and tortures of
affectation to which they put themselves. How I hate
them, and all the aimings at true Italian pronunciation
and true Italian manner, which after all is, nine times

460 MAEIA EDGEWOETH [JULY

out of ten, quite erroneous, and such as the Italians
themselves would laugh at, or most probably no more
comprehend than I did De Leuze repeating the " Botanic
Garden : " I was just going to ask what language it was,
when my mother, good at need, saved me from the irre-
parable blunder by whispering, " It is English." The
words were, I believe, all right, but the accents were all
thrown wrong. As Lady Spencer said, " It is wonder-
ful that foreigners never by accident throw the accents

right." Milton says : —
j

" For eloquence the soul, song moves the sense ; "

but if he had heard Moore's poetry sung by Sophy, he
would have acknowledged that song moved not only the
sense, but the soul.

I have dilated upon this to you, my dear Lucy,
because you have at times felt the same about Sophy's
singing. During my illness, day and night, whenever
pain and delirium allowed me rational thought, you and
your admirable patience recurred to my mind. I said to
myself, " How can she bear it so well, and in her young
days, the spring-time of life ! how admirable is her
resignation and cheerfulness ! never a cross word, or
cross look, or impatient gesture, and for four years ;
when I, with all my strength of experience and added
philosophy from education, moan and groan aloud, and
can scarce bear ten days' illness, with two really angel
sisters to nurse me, and watch my ' asking eye ' ! "
You have at least the reward of my perfect esteem and
admiration, after comparison with myself, the only true
standard by which I can estimate your worth.

1823] TO MISS LUCY EDGEWORTH 461

Miss Edgeworth and her sisters spent a most happy
fortnight with Sir Walter Scott and his family.
" Never," writes his son-in-law, " did I see a brighter
day at Abbotsford than that on which Miss Edgeworth
first arrived there ; never can I forget her look and
accent when she was received by him at his archway,
and exclaimed : ' Everything about you is exactly what
one ought to have had wit enough to dream ! ' '

Sir Walter delighted in Miss Sophy Edgeworth's
singing, especially of Moore's Irish melodies. " Moore 's
the man for songs," he said. " Campbell can write an
ode, and I can make a ballad ; but Moore beats us all
at a song." Sir Walter was then at the height of his
fame and " in the glory of his prime," surrounded by
his family ; both his sons were at home, and his
daughter Anne ; and he had then staying with him his
nephew, "Little Walter." Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart were
living at Chiefswood, but they were continually at
Abbotsford, or some of the party were continually at
Chiefswood ; and Sir Walter's joyous manner and life of
mind, his looks of fond pride in his children, the
pleasantness of his easy manners, the gay walks, the
evening conversations, and the drives in the sociable,
enchanted Miss Edgeworth. In these drives the flow of
story, poetry, wit, and wisdom never ceased ; Sir Walter
sitting with his dog Spicer on his lap, and Lady Scott
with her dog Ourisk on her lap.

Lady Scott one day expressed her surprise that Scott
and Miss Edgeworth had not met when the latter was in
Edinburgh in 1803. " Why," said Sir Walter, with one
of his queer looks, " you forget, my dear, Miss Edge-

462 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Auo.

worth was not a lion then, and my mane, you know, was
not grown at all." 1

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

ABBOTSFORD, July 31, 1823.

I take a pen merely to say that I will not write ! I
have so much to say, that I dare not trust myself, as I
am still so far from strong, I must not venture to play
tricks with that health which it cost my dear, kind
nurses so much to preserve. I am as careful of myself
as any creature can be without becoming an absolute self-
ish egotist. Lady Scott is really so watchful and care-
ful of me, that even when my own family guardian
angels are not on either or both sides of me, I can do no
wrong, and can come to no harm.

It is quite delightful to see Scott in his family in the
country : breakfast, dinner, supper, the same flow of
kindness, fondness, and genius, far, far surpassing his
works, his letters, <and all my hopes and imagination.
His castle of Abbotsford is magnificent, but I forget it in
thinking of him.

TO MR. RUXTON.

ABBOTSFORD, August 9, 1823.

I remember that you requested one of our party to
write a few lines from Abbotsford. I think I mentioned
to my aunt or Sophy the impression which I first expe-
rienced from Sir Walter Scott's great simplicity of man-
ner, joined to his wonderful superiority of intellect.
This impression has been strengthened by all I have seen
of him since. In living with him in the country, I have
1 Life of George Ticknor.

1823] TO MB. RUXTON 463

particularly liked his behavior towards his variety of
guests, of all ranks, who come to his hospitable castle.
Many of these are artists, painters, architects, mechanists,
antiquarians, people who look up to him for patronage
— none of them permitted to be hangers on or parasites;
his manners perfectly kind and courteous, yet such as to
command respect ; and I never heard any one attempt to
natter him. I never saw an author less of an author in
his habits. This I early observed, but have been the
more struck with it the longer I have been with him.
He has, indeed, such variety of occupations, that he has
not time to think of his own works : how he has time to
write them is the wonder. You would like him for his
love of trees ; a great part of his time out of doors is
taken up in pruning his trees. I have within this hour
heard a gentleman say to him, " You have had a good
deal of experience in planting, Sir Walter; do you
advise much thinning, or not ? " "I should advise much
thinning, but little at a time. If you thin much at a
time, you let in the wind, and hurt your trees."

I hope to show you a sketch of Abbotsford Sophy has
made — better than any description. Besides the Abbey
of Melrose, we have seen many interesting places in this
neighborhood. To-day we have been a delightful drive
through Ettrick Forest, and to the ruins of Xewark —
the hall of Xewark, where the ladies bent their necks of
snow to hear the " Lay of the Last Minstrel." Though
great part of Ettrick Forest was cut down years ago, yet
much of it has grown up again to respectable height, and
many most beautiful oak, ash, and alder trees remain.
We had a happy walk by the river, and after refreshing
ourselves with a luncheon in a summer-house beautifully

464 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [Auo.

situated, we went to look at the ruins of Newark. It
is a pity that this fine old building was let to go to ruin,
which it has done only within the last seventy years.
The late Duke and Duchess of Buccleugh, to whom it
belonged, had in their youth lived abroad, and were so
ignorant about their own estate in Scotland, that when
they first came to live here they supposed there were no
trees, and no wood they thought could be had, and
brought with them, among other things, a barrel full of
skewers for the cook.

It is very agreeable to observe how many friends of
long standing Scott has in this neighborhood : they have
been here, and we have been at their houses : very good
houses, and the style of living excellent. Except one
Prussian prince and one Swiss baron, no grand foreign
visitors have been here ; indeed, this house is in such a
state of painting and papering, and carpenters finishing
new rooms and chasing the inhabitants out of the old, that
it was impossible to have much company. \

Sir Walter's eldest son was here for some days — now
gone back to Sandhurst ; he is excessively shy, very
handsome, not at all literary, but he has sense and hon-
orable principle, and is very grateful to those who were
kind to him in Ireland. His younger brother, Charles,
who is now at home, has more easy manners, is more con-
versible, and has more of his father's literary taste. I
am sorry to say we are to leave Abbotsford the day after
to-morrow; but the longer we stay the more sorry we
shall feel to go. We had intended to have paid a visit to
Lady Selkirk at St. Mary's Isle, but this would be a
hundred miles out of our way, and I have no time for it,
which I regret, as I liked very much the little I saw of
Lady Selkirk in London.

1823] TO MKS. EUXTON 465

After visits at Glasgow and Dalwharran, Miss Edge-
worth and her sisters returned to Ireland.

TO MBS. KUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, November 20, 1823.
It is a long time since I have written to you, always
waiting a day longer for somebody's coming or going, or
sailing or landing. You ask what I am doing ? Nothing,
but reading and idling, and paving a gutter and yard to
Honora's pig-stye, and school-house. What have I been
reading ? The " Siege of Valencia," by Mrs. Hemans,
which is an hour too long, but it contains some of the
most beautiful poetry I have read for years. I have
read Quin's letters from Spain, entertaining ; the review
of it in the " Quarterly " is by Blanco White. Dr. Hol-
land's letters continue to be as full of information and
interest as ever, though he is a married man. Tell
Sophy that the subject of electricity and electro-magnet-
ism is every day affording new facts, and all the philoso-
phers on the Continent are busy about it. Sir Hum-
phry Davy had a narrow escape of breaking his neck by
a fall down stairs, but he is not hurt, tout au contraire.
I had a letter, written in very good English, the other
day, from M. de Stae'l ; he is now in London, and tells
me the French and the Holy Alliance are tyrannizing
sadly at Geneva, and have ordered all the Italian patriots
who had taken refuge there to decamp. There is one of
these, Count Somebody or other, whose name I cannot
persuade myself to get up to look for, whom M. de
Stae'l wishes I would take by the hand in London, and
what I am to do with him when I have him by the hand
I don't know.

466 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JAN.

I had a letter from Walter Scott, who has been
delighted with the history of Caraboo,1 which I sent to
him : a pamphlet published at the time. He says that
nobody with a reasonable head could attempt to calculate
the extent of popular credulity, and observes that she,
like all the great cheats who have imposed upon man-
kind, was touched with insanity, half knave, half mad,
at last the dupe of her own acting of enthusiasm.

Prince Hohenlohe and the pamphlets, pro and con,
occupy us much. Crampton's second edition of his I
think excellent. Some very curious facts have been
brought out of the effect of the imagination upon the
bodily health. And while Scott is writing novels to
entertain the world, and the philosophers in France try-
ing experiments on electro-magnetism, Davy tumbling
downstairs, and Denham and Co. in Africa looking for
the Niger, here is all London rushing out to look at the
cottage in which a swindler lived who murdered another
swindler, and buying bits of the sack in which the dead
body was put ! Have your newspapers given what we
have had in the " Morning Chronicle " ? — views of
Roberts' s cottage and the pond with Thurtell and Hunt
dragging the body out of it ? Shakespeare understood
John Bull right well, and always gave him plenty of
murders and dead bodies. I am glad there are no Irish-
men in this base as well as savage gang.

TO MISS RUXTON.

PAKENHAM HALL, January 21.

We, my mother, Lovell, Fanny, and I, came here
yesterday, glad to see Lord Longford surrounded by his

1 Caraboo is alluded to in St. Roman's Well, published in the autumn
of this year. Sir Walter had never heard of her till Miss Edgeworth
told her history to him at Abbotsford.

1824] TO MRS. BANNATYNE 467

friends in old Pakenham Hall hospitable style, — he
always cordial, unaffected, and agreeable. The house
has been completely new-modeled, chimneys taken down
from top to bottom, rooms turned about from lengthways
to broadways, thrown into one another, and out of one
another, and the result is that there is a comfortable
excellent drawing-room, dining-room, and library, and
the bedchambers are admirable. Mrs. Smyth, of Gay-
brook, and her daughter are here, and Mr. Knox, and
I have been so lucky as to be seated next to him at
dinner yesterday, and at breakfast this morning ; he is
very agreeable when he speaks, and when he is silent it
is " silence that speaks."

Lady Longford l has been very attentive to us. She
has the finest and most happy open-faced children I ever
saw — not the least troublesome, yet perfectly free and
at their ease with the company and with their parents.

A box will be left in Dublin for you on Monday
morning. There is no telling you how happy I have
been getting ready and packing and fussing about the
said box for you, flying about the house from the library
to the garret. And all for what ? When Sophy, whom
I beg to be the unpacker, opens it, you will see a certain
dabbed-up crooked pasteboard tray in which are four
frills for you : I hemmed every inch of them myself, to
give them the only value they could have in your eyes.

TO MBS. BANNATYNE.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, February 16, 1824.

My dear Mr. and Mrs. Bannatyne — my dear Mrs.
Starke and Miss Bannatyne, and Andrew and Dugald,
1 Georgiana, daughter of the first Earl Beauchamp.

468 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

and all of you kind friends, put your heads close together
to hear a piece of intelligence which will, I know, rejoice
your kind hearts.

Our dear Sophy and your dear Sophy is going to he
married to a person whom her mother and every one of
her own family completely approve, who has been ten-
derly attached to her for some time, whose principles,
understanding, manners, and honorable manly character
are such as to deserve such a wife as I may proudly say
he will have in Sophy. His birth, family connections,
and fortune are all such as we could wish. The gentle-
man is a cousin of our own, Captain Barry Fox ; he is an
officer, but will probably leave the army, and settle in his
own country ; we hope within reach of us. He has been
so kind and considerate about poor Lucy, so anxious not
to deprive her too suddenly of her beloved and best of
nurses, that he has endeared himself the more to us all.

TO MRS. RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 18, 1824.

The indissoluble knot is tied ! What an awful cere-
mony it is ! What an awful deed ! How can parents
bear to be at the weddings of their children where it is
not a marriage of their own free choice ? and how can a
woman herself pronounce that solemn vow when she is
marrying for money, or for grandeur, or for any earthly
motive but the pure heart ? A purer heart than my
sister Sophy's I do believe never approached the altar,
nor was the hand ever given more entirely with the free
heart. There was no one at the wedding but our own
family, Mr. Fox, Francis Fox, and William Beaufort.
We six ladies went in the carriage immediately after

1824] TO MRS. O'BEIRNE 469

breakfast to the church, where the gentlemen were wait-
ing for us. The churchyard, and church of course,
crowded with the poor people of the village, but as we
drove out of our own lawn into Mr. Keating' s, there was
as little annoyance from starers as possible. William
Beaufort married them, as had been Sophy's particular
wish. The sun shone out with a bright promise at the
moment her marriage was completed. Barry handed her
into his chaise, the most commodious, prettiest, and
plainest carriage I ever saw, and away they drove.

TO MBS. O'BEIRNE.1

BLACK CASTLE, July 6, 1824.

In the little drawing-room at Black Castle, where we
have been so often happy together ; in the little drawing-
room to which you have so often brought me to see my
dear aunt, I now write to you, my dear friend, to tell
you how much I miss you. I feel a perpetual want of
that part of my happiness in this dear place which I
owed to its neighborhood to another dear place to which
I cannot now bear to go. Once, and but once, in the
two months I have been here have I been there ; when
the indispensable civility of returning a formal visit re-
quired it, and then I felt it to be as much, if not more,
than I was able to do, with the composure I felt to be
proper. The sitting in that red drawing-room and miss-
ing everything I had so loved — the saloon, the lawn —
I really could not speak, and heartily glad I was when I
got away.

My plans of going to England this summer have been

1 The Bishop of Meath died in 1823 ; and Mrs. O'Beirne and her
daughters went to reside in England.

470 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JULY

all broken up : you know how, as you have heard of the
death of my dear sister Anna,1 at Florence ; the account
of her loss reached me just when I was joyfully expecting
an answer to a letter full of projects which she never
lived to read. God's will be done. We expect my
nieces, Anna and Mary, at Edgeworthstown as soon as
they return from Italy.

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, July 17, 1824.

I hope this will find you at Cheltenham with Barry
and Sophy, and Fanny; my mother and Margaret set
off this fine morning for Black Castle, and Lucy is now
in the dining-room, her bed aslant across the open middle
window, the grassplot new-mown, and a sweet smell of
fresh hay. They are drawing home the hay, and men
are driving past the windows on empty cars, or leading
loaded ones. The roses are still in full blow on the
trellis. Aunt Bess sitting by Lucy talking of the beau-
tiful thorns in the Phcenix Park, and I am sitting on
the other side of Lucy's bed by the pillar.

Margaret Ruxton when here was eager to pay her
compliments to Peggy Tuite ; her husband has written
for her to go to him, and she is now " torn almost in
two between the wish to go to her husband and her
lothness to leave her old mother." She gave Margaret
and me the history of her losing and finding her wedding
ring. " Sure I knew my luck would change when I
found my wedding ring that I lost four years ago —
down in the quarry. I went across the fields to feed

1 Anna Edgeworth, Maria's whole sister, had married Dr. Beddoes
in 1794.

1824] TO MISS HONOR A EDGE WORTH 471

the pig, and looked and looked till I was tired, and then
concluded I had given it to the pig mixed up and that
he had swallowed it forever — it was a real gold ring.
But the men that was clearing out the rubbage in the
quarry found it and adjourned to the public-house to
share the luck of it. My brother got scent of it and
went directly to inform the man that found it whose
the ring was, and demanded it; he wouldn't hear of
giving it back, and sold it to a pensioner there above ;
my brother set off with himself to the priest and told
all, and the priest summoned the man and the pensioner,
and my brother, and in the presence of an honest man,
Mr. Sweeny, warned the pensioner to restore the wed-
ding ring, since my brother could tell the tokens on it.
' It 's the woman's wedding ring to remind her of her
conjugal duties, and it 's sacrilege to take it.' But the
man that sold it was hardened, and the pensioner said
he had paid for it, and so says the priest to Keegan,
that 's the master of the quarrymen, ' Turn this man
out of the work, he is a bad man and he will corrupt
the rest. And, Peggy Tuite, I advise you and your
brother to go straight to Major Bond and summon these
men.' ' Then she described the trial, when Tuite
" swore to the tokens where it had been crushed by a
stone, and the goldsmith's mark, and the Major held it
between him and the light and plainly noticed the crush
and the battered marks, and handing me the ring said,
' Peggy Tuite, this is your ring sure enough.' "

472 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [1824

TO MRS. RTJXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, August 16, 1824.

We have heard from Sophy Fox, who tells us that
they have been delighted with their journey to Aberyst-
with, especially the devil's bridge. Can you tell me
why the devil has so many bridges, sublime and beauti-
ful, in every country of the habitable world ? Ingdnieur
des Ponts et Chausse'es to his Satanic Majesty would be
a place of great business, profit, and glory, and would
require a man of first-rate abilities. Lucy has painted a
beautiful portrait of her bullfinch, picking at a bunch of
white currants — the currants would, I am sure, be picked
by any live bird.

Tell me how you like " Hajji Baba."

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, August 28, 1824.

I am impatient to set my dear Aunt Mary's 1 mind
free from the anxiety I am sure she feels about her
decision to stay in England this winter ; whatever dis-
appointment and regret I felt was mitigated by her
beautifully kind and tender note.

Your entertaining account of the archery meeting at
Lord Bagot's came yesterday evening. What a magnifi-
cent entertainment, and in what good taste ! It was a
delightful house for a fete champ etre.

* After the death of her sister Charlotte in 1822, Miss Mary Sneyd
resided occasionally with her brother in England till 1828, when she
returned finally to Edgeworthstown, where she remained for the rest
of her life, deeply attached to all the family, but regarding her niece
Honora as peculiarly her own child.

1825] TO MRS. EUXTON 473

The Roman Catholic Bishop, M'Gaurin, held a con-
firmation the day before yesterday, and dined here on a
God-send haunch of venison. Same day Mr. Hunter
arrived, and Mr. Butler came with young Mr. Hamilton,
an " admirable Crichton " of eighteen ; a real prodigy of
talents, who Dr. Brinkley says may be a second New-
ton— quite gentle and simple. Mr. and Mrs. Napier
arrived on Wednesday, and spent two most agreeable
days with us ; he is an extremely well-informed man
and both are perfectly well bred. Mr. Butler and Mr,
Hamilton suited them delightfully. Mr. Butler and'
Mr. Napier found they were both Oxford men, and took
to each other directly. Mr. Napier's conversation is
quite superior and easy. Those two days put me in
mind of former times. Hunter is very happy here in
spite of his cockney prejudices ; he says " Harry and
Lucy " must be ready by October.

TO MRS. RUXTON.

January 1, 1825.

A happy New Year to you, my dearest aunt, — to you
to whom I now look as much as I can to any one now
living, for the rays of pleasure that I expect to gild my
bright evening of life. As we advance in life we become
more curious, more fastidious in gilding and gilders ; we
find to our cost that all that glitters is not gold, and
your every-day bungling carvers and gilders will not do.
Our evening-gilders must be more skillful than those
who flashed and daubed away in the morning of life,
and gilt with any tinsel the weathercock for the morn-
ing sun.

You may perceive, my dear aunt, by my having got

474 MARIA EDGE WORTH [JAN.

so finely to the weathercock, and the rising sun, that I
am out of the hands of all my dear apothecaries, and
playing away again with a superfluity of life. (N. B.
I am surprisingly prudent.) Honora's cough has almost
subsided, and Lucy can sit upright the greater part of
the day. " God bless the mark ! " as Molly Bristow
would say, if she heard me, " don't be bragging."

January 6.

I have to give you the most cheering accounts of
Honora and Lucy. Honora is now on the sofa opposite
to me, working with her candle beside her on a bracket
— my New Year's gift to the sofas, a mahogany bracket
on each side of the chimney-piece to fold up or down,
and large enough to hold a candlestick and a teacup or
work-box. Mary Beddoes and I are on the sofa next
the door; Honora and Anna on the other, and some-
body sitting in the middle talking by turns to each sofa.
Who can that be ? Not Harriet, for tea is over and
she has seceded to Lucy's room ; not my mother, nor
William, nor Mrs. Beaufort, nor Louisa, for the carriage
has carried them away some hours ago, poor souls and
full-dressed bodies, to dine at Ardagh. But who can
this Unknown be ? A gentleman it must be to consti-
tute the happiness of two sofas of ladies.

My nephew, Henry Beddoes ! and the joy of ladies
he certainly will be, not merely of aunts and sisters, but
of all who can engage or be engaged by prepossessing
manners and appearance, and the promise of all that is
amiable and intelligent. I am delighted with him, and
he would charm you.

Lady Bathurst has done me another good turn for

1825] TO MRS. RUXTON 475

Fanny Stewart, that is, for her husband; there was a
charming letter from Fanny Stewart a few days ago. I
send for your amusement the famous little " Valoe " in
its elegantissimo binding, and Lady Bathurst's letter about
it, elegantissima also. You remember I hope the story
of its publication, — written by a governess of the Duchess
of Beaufort's, assisted by all the conclave of quality
young lady governesses, with little traits of character of
their pupils. The authoress sent it to the Duchess of
Beaufort, asking permission to publish and dedicate it to
her Grace. The Duchess never read it, and returned it
to the governess with a compliment, and, "publish it
by all means, and dedicate it to me." Out came the
publication ; and though each young lady was flattered,
yet all quarreled with the mode of compliment, and in
many there was a little touch of blame, which moved
their or their mothers' anger, and with one accord they *
attacked the Duchess of Beaufort for her permission to
publish, and the edition was all bought up in a vast
hurry.

In a few days I trust — you know I am a great
truster — that you will receive a packet franked by Lord
Bathurst, containing only a little pocket-book — " Friend-
ship's Offering, for 1825," dizened out ; I fear you will
think it too fine for your taste, but there is in it, as you
will find, the old " Mental Thermometer," which was
once a favorite of yours. You will wonder how it came
there — simply thus. Last autumn came by the coach a
parcel containing just such a book as this for last year,
and a letter from Mr. Lupton Relf e — a foreigner settled
in London — and he prayed in most polite bookseller
strain that I would look over my portfolio for some trifle

476 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [JAN.

for this book for 1825. I might have looked over " my
portfolio " till doomsday, as I have not an unpublished
scrap, except " Take for Granted." 1 But I recollected
the " Mental Thermometer," and that it had never been
out, except in the " Irish Farmer's Journal " — not known
in England. So I routed in the garret under pyramids
of old newspapers, with my mother's prognostics that I
never should find it, and loud prophecies that I should
catch my death, which I did not, but dirty and dusty
and cobwebby I came forth after two hours' groveling,
with my object in my hand ! Cut it out, added a few
lines of new end to it, and packed it off to Lupton Kelfe,
telling him that it was an old thing written when I was
sixteen. Weeks elapsed, and I heard no more, when
there came a letter exuberant in gratitude, and sending
a parcel containing six copies of the new memorandum
book, and a most beautiful twelfth edition of Scott's
" Poetical Works," bound in the most elegant manner,
and with most beautifully engraved frontispieces and vig-
nettes, and a £5 note. I was quite ashamed — but I
have done all I could for him by giving the " Friend-
ship's Offerings " to all the fine people I could think of.
The set of Scott's Works made a nice New Year's gift
for Harriet ; she had seen this edition at Edinburgh and
particularly wished for it. The £51 have sent to Har-
riet Beaufort to be laid out in books for Fanny Stewart.
Little did I think the poor old " Thermometer " would
give me so much pleasure.

Here comes the carriage rolling round. I feel guilty ;
what will my mother say to me, so long a letter at this

i Take for Granted was an idea which Maria never worked out into
a story, though ahe had made many notes for it.

1825] TO MRS. KUXTON 477

time of night ? — Yours affectionately in all the haste
of guilt, conscience-stricken : that is, found out.

No — all safe, all innocent — because not found out.
Finis.

By the author of " Moral Tales " and " Practical Edu-
cation."

February 16.

I hope my dearest aunt will not disdain the work of
my little bungling hands. The Vandykes of this apron
are such as Vandyke would scorn ; poor little pitiful
things they be ! and will be in rags in a fortnight, no
doubt. But if you knew the pains I have taken with
them, and what pleasure I have had in doing them, even
all wrong, you would hang them round you with satis-
faction. By the time it is completely roved away I
shall be with you and bind it over to its good behavior,
so that it shall never rove again me. Love me and
laugh at me as you have done many is the year.

The crocuses and snowdrops in my garden are beauti-
ful ; my green board-edged beds and green trellis make
it absolutely a wooden paradise.

I forgot to boast that I was up for three mornings at
seven vandyking.

Henry Beddoes told us that Lord Byron was extremely
beloved and highly thought of by all whom he heard
speak of him at Missolonghi, both Greeks and his own
countrymen. He had regained public esteem by his lat-
ter conduct. The place in which he died was not the
worst inn's worst room, but an absolute hovel, without
any bed of any kind ; he was lying on a sack.

478 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

March 15.

You have probably seen in the papers the death of our
admirable friend Mrs. Barbauld. I have copied for you
her last letter to me and some beautiful lines written in
her eightieth year. There is a melancholy elegance and
force of thought in both. Elegance and strength —
qualities rarely uniting without injury to each other —
combine most perfectly in her style, and this rare com-
bination, added to their classical purity, form, perhaps,
the distinguishing characteristics of her writings. Eng-
land has lost a great writer, and we a most sincere
friend.

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

BLACK CASTLE, May 10, 1825.

Your list of presentation copies of " Harry and Lucy,"
and your reasons for giving each diverted me very much.
Sophy and Margaret and I laughed over it and agreed
that every reason was like Mr. Plunket's speech, " un-
answerable."

TO MRS. RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, July 9, 1825.

With my whole soul I thank you for your most touch-
ing letter 1 to my mother, so full of true resignation to
God's will, and of those feelings which He has im-
planted in the human heart for our greatest happiness
and our greatest trials. " Fifty-five years " ! How
much is contained in those words of yours. I loved
him dearly, and well I might, most kind he ever was to*
me, and I felt all his excellent qualities, his manners,
i On the death of Mr. Ruxton.

1825] TO MRS. RUXTON 479

his delightful temper. How little did I think when
last I saw his kind looks bent upon me that it was for
the last time.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, August, 1825.

Sir Walter Scott, punctual to his promise, arrived on
Friday in good time for dinner ; he brought with him
Miss Scott and Mr. Crampton. I am glad that kind
Crampton had the reward of this journey ; though fre-
quently hid from each other by clouds of dust in their
open carriage, they had as they told us never ceased
talking. They like each other as much as two men of
so much genius and so much benevolence should, and
we rejoice to be the bond of union.

Scarcely had Crampton shaken the dust from his
shoes when he said, " Before I eat, and what is more,
before I wash my hands, I must see Lucy." He says
that he has now no doubt that, please God, and in all
the humility of hope and gratitude I repeat it, she will
perfectly recover.

Captain and Mrs. Scott and Mr. Lockhart were de-
tained in Dublin, and did not come till eleven o'clock,
and my mother had supper, and fruit, and everything
refreshing for them. Mrs. Scott is perfectly unaffected
and rather pretty, with a sweet confiding expression of
countenance and fine mild most loving eyes.

Sir Walter delights the heart of every creature who
sees, hears, and knows him. He is most benignant as
well as most entertaining ; the noblest and the gentlest
of lions, and his face, especially the lower part of it, is
excessively like a lion ; he and Mr. Crampton and Mr.
Jephson were delightful together. The school band,
after dinner by moonlight, playing Scotch tunes, and

480 MAKIA EDGEWORTH [1825

the boys at leap-frog delighted Sir Walter. Next day
we went to the school for a very short time and saw a
little of everything, and a most favorable impression
was left. It being Saturday, religious instruction was
going on when we went in. Catholics, with their priest,
in one room j Protestants, with Mr. Keating, in the
other.

More delightful conversation I have seldom in my
life heard than we have been blessed with these three
days. What a touch of sorrow must mix with the
pleasures of all who have had great losses. Lovell, my
mother, and I, at twelve o'clock at night, joined in ex-
claiming, " How delightful ! Oh ! that he had lived to
see and hear this ! "

Maria Edgeworth and her sister Harriet accompanied
Sir Walter and Miss Scott, Mr. Lockhart and Captain
and Mrs. Scott to Killarney. They traveled in an
open caleche of Sir Walter's, and Captain Scott's
chariot, changing the combination from one carriage to
another as the weather or accident suggested. When
some difficulty occurred about horses, Sir Walter said,
" Swift, in one of his letters, when no horses were to be
had, says, 'If we had but had a captain of horse to
swear for us we should have had the horses at once ; '
now here we have the captain of horse, but the land-
lord is not moved even by him."

The little tour was most enjoyable, and greatly was
it enjoyed. Neither Sir Walter nor Miss Edgeworth
was ever annoyed with the little discomforts of travel,
and they found amusement in everything, shaming all
with whom they came in contact. Their boatman on

1825] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 481

the lake of Killarney told Lord Macaulay twenty years
afterwards that the pleasure of rowing them had made
him amends for missing a hanging that day !

Mrs. Edgeworth relates : —

" The evening of the day they left Killarney, Sir Wal-
ter was unwell, and Maria was much struck by the
tender affectionate attention of his son and Mr. Lock-
hart and their great anxiety. He was quite as usual,
however, the next day, and on their arrival in Dublin,
the whole party dined at Captain Scott's house in
Stephen's Green ; he and Mrs. Scott most hospitably
inviting, besides Maria and Harriet, my two daughters,
Fanny and Mrs. Barry Fox, who had just returned from
Italy, and my two sons, Francis and Pakenham, who
were coming home for the holidays. It happened to be
Sir Walter's birthday, the 15th of August, and his
health was drunk with more feeling than gayety. He
and Maria that evening bade farewell to each other,
never to meet again in this world."

Twenty-five years later we find Miss Edgeworth
writing to Mr. Ticknor, how, in imagination, she could
still meet Sir Walter, " with all his benign calm expres-
sion of countenance, his eye of genius, and his mouth of
humor — such as genius loved to see him. His very
self I see, feeling, thinking, and about to speak."

MARIA TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

BLACK CASTLE, August 30, 1825.

I calculate that there can be no use in my writing to
Dr. Holland, Killarney, at this time of day, because he
must have departed that life. However, I write to Mr.

482 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Auo.

Hallam1 this day with a message to Dr. Holland, if
there. If you learn that Dr. Holland can come to
Edgeworthstown, you will of course tell me, if it be
within the possibility of time and space ; I would go
home even for the chance of spending an hour with
him ; therefore be prepared for the shock of seeing me.
I do hope he will in his great kindness — which is
always beyond what any one ought to hope — I do hope
he will contrive to go to Edgeworthstown. How de-
lightful to have Lucy sitting up like a lady beside you.

The Lords Bective and Darnley, and Sir Marcus
Somerville, and Lord knows who, are all at this mo-
ment broiling in Navan at a Catholic meeting, saying
and hearing the same things that have been said and
heard 100,000,000 times ; one certain good will result
from it, that I shall have a frank for you and save you
sevenpence. I will send a number of the " New
Monthly Magazine " as old as the hills to Fanny, with
a review of Tremaine, which will interest her, as she
will find me there, like Mahomet's coffin between
heaven and earth. My Aunt Sophy and Mag are all
reading " Harry and Lucy," and all reading it bit by
bit, the only way in which it can be fairly judged. My
aunt's being really interested and entertained by it, as I
see she is, quite surpasses my hopes. Feelings of grati-
tude to Honora should have made me write this specially
to her, only that I was afraid she might think that I
thought that she thought of nothing but " Harry and
Lucy," which, upon the word of a reasonable creature, I
do not. My aunt is entertained with Clarke's " Life,"

1 Mr. Hallam was detained at Killarney by breaking his leg, and Dr.
Holland had been staying with him.

1825] TO MRS. STARK 483

though he says that all literary ladies are horse god-
mothers. In the " Evening Mail " of Monday last
there are extracts from some speculations of Dr. Barry,
an English physician at Paris, on the effect of atmos-
pheric pressure in causing the motion of the blood in
the veins. If you see Dr. Holland, ask him about this
and its application in preventing the effect of poison.

In Bakewell's " Travels in Switzerland " there is an
account, apropos to ennui being the cause of suicide, of
the death of Berthollet's son, who shut himself up in a
room with a brazier of charcoal ; a paper was found on
the table with an account of his feelings during the
operation of the fumes of the charcoal upon him to the
last moment that he could make his writing intelligible.

TO MRS. STARK.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWJT, November 27, 1825.

Our two boys were at home in August, and the hap-
piest of the happy with two ponies and four sisters.
Francis's poem of " Saul " won a medal, and Paken-
ham's "Jacob," a miniature Horace.

You may have seen in the papers the account of the
burning of Castle Forbes, in the County of Longford.
Lord Forbes was awakened by his dog, or he would have
been suffocated and burned in his bed. He showed
great presence of mind : carried out, first, a quantity of
gunpowder which was in a closet into which the flames
were entering ; and next, the family papers and pictures.
A valuable collection of prints and books were lost : key
not to be found in the scuffle, and servants and other
ignoramuses, conceiving the biggest volumes must be the
most valuable, wasted their energies upon folios of Irish

484 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1825

House of Commons Journals and Statutes. The castle
was in three hours' time reduced to the bare walls.
I am forgetting a fact for which I began this story. A
gentleman was, by the force of motive, endued with such
extraordinary strength in the midst of that night's
danger, that he wrenched from its iron spike and pedes-
tal a fine marble bust of Cromwell, carried it downstairs,
and threw it on the grass. Next morning he could not
lift it ! and no one man who tried could stir it.

TO MRS. RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, December 19, 1825.

I wish you to have a letter from Dr. Holland before
it gets stale : therefore you must forgive me for writing
on this thin paper, for no other would waft it to you
free.

Your observations about the difficulties of " Taking
for Granted " are excellent : I " take for granted " I
shall be able to conquer them. If only one instance
were taken, the whole story must turn upon that, and
be constructed to bear on one point ; and that pointing
to the moral would not appear natural. As Sir Walter
said to me in reply to my observing, " It is difficult to
introduce the moral without displeasing the reader,"
" The rats won't go into the trap if they smell the hand
of the rat-catcher."

" Taking for Granted " was laid aside by Miss Edge-
worth for ten years after this. When Mr. Ticknor was
at Edgeworthstown in 1835, he says : —

Miss Edgeworth was anxious to know what instances

1826] MARIA EDGEWORTH 485

I had ever witnessed of persons suffering from " taking
for granted " what proved false, and desired me quite
earnestly, and many times, to write to her about it;
" for," she added, " you would be surprised if you knew
how much I pick up in this way." " The story," she
said, "must begin lightly, and the early instances of
mistake might be comic, but it must end tragically."
I told her I was sorry for this. " Well," said she, " I
can't help it, it must be so. The best I can do for you
is, to leave it quite uncertain whether it is possible the
man who is to be my victim can ever be happy again or
not."

On her father's death, Miss Edgeworth had resigned
the management of his estates to their new owner, her
half-brother Lovell, but, in the universal difficulties
which affected the money market in 1826, she was in-
duced to resume her post, acting in everything as her
brother's agent, but taking the entire responsibility. By
consummate care and prudence she weathered the storm
which swamped so many in this financial crisis. The
great difficulty was paying everybody when rents were
not to be had ; but she undertook the whole, borrowing
money in small sums, paying off incumbrances, and
repaying the borrowed money as the times improved ;
thus enabling her brother to keep the land which so
many proprietors were then obliged to sell, and yet never
distressing the tenants.

The second part of " Harry and Lucy " was published
this year, having been written at various intervals since
1813. Like its predecessor, it had as its object to
induce children to become their own instructors.

486 MARIA EDGEWOBTH [JAN.

MARIA TO MRS. RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, January 27, 1826.
These last three weeks I have had multitudes of let-
ters to write, but not one of them have I written with
the least pleasure, except that sort of pleasure which we
have in doing what we think a duty. Lovell has put the
management of his affairs into my hands, and the receiv-
ing of his rents ; and this is, except one letter which I
wrote to the author of " Granby," as soon as we had
finished that delightful book, the only letter of pleasure
in which I have indulged myself.

SONNA, April 6.

Most grateful am I, my dearest aunt, for your won-
derful preservation after such a terrible fall ! Often
and often as I have gone down those three steep stairs
have I feared that some accident would occur. Thank
God that you are safe ! I really have but this one
idea. We have had agreeable letters from Harriet E.
and Sophy Fox, who are very happy at Cloona : the
accounts of their little daily employments and pleasures
are the most cheering thoughts I can call up at this
moment. Happy in the garden looking at crocuses,
contriving new beds, etc. ; happy in the house, when
Harriet reads out, while Sophy works, " Granby " at
night and Peel's and Robinson's speeches by day.

May 27.

You have seen in the papers the death of Lady Scott.
In Sir Walter's last letter he had described her suffer-
ings from water on the chest, but we had no idea the
danger was so immediate. She was a most kind-hearted,

1826] TO MRS. RUXTON 487

hospitable person, and had much more sense and more
knowledge of character and discrimination than many of
those who ridiculed her. I know I never can forget her
kindness to me when I was ill at Abbotsford. Her last
words at parting were, " God bless you ! we shall never
meet again." At the time it was much more likely that
I should have died, I thought, than she. Sir Walter
said he had been interrupted in his letter by many
domestic distresses. The first two pages had been begun
two months ago, and were in answer to a letter of mine
inquiring about the truth of his losses, etc. Of these he
spoke with cheerful fortitude, but with no bravado. He
said that his losses had been great, but that he had
enough left to live on ; that he had had many gratifying
offers of assistance, but that what he had done foolishly
he would bear manfully ; that he would take it all upon
his own shoulders, and that he had great comfort in
knowing that Lady Scott was not a person who cared
about money, and that " Beatrice," as he 'calls Anne
Scott, bore her altered prospects with cheerfulness.
" She is of a very generous disposition, and poor Janie
proffered her whole fortune as if it had been a goose-
berry."

After writing this much the letter appeared to have
been thrown aside and forgotten to be sent, till he was
roused again by a letter from me about poor Mr.
Jephson. The domestic distresses which had inter-
rupted the course of his thoughts were, the illness of his
dear little grandson Lockhart, one of the finest and most
engaging children I ever saw; and then Lady Scott's
illness and death. He says that the letters of Malachy
Malagrowther cost him but a day apiece.

488 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JULY

July 10.

Sir Humphry Davy has been with us since Thursday,
and his visit has been delightful ; he has always been
kind and constant in his friendship to us. I had
expressed a great wish to see the " Discourses " which he
annually addressed to the Royal Society, as President,
on the presentation of the medals. He has been urged
to publish them, but to this he has never yet consented.
I had the courage — indeed, I thought at the time the
rashness — to ask him to let me see the MS. of one
which I was particularly anxious to see, as it related to
Dr. Brinkley : Sir Humphry was so very kind to have a
copy made for me of all his Discourses. I found them
fully equal to my expectations, quite worthy of the
genius and reputation of Sir Humphry Davy, and be-
coming the President of the Royal Society of England ;
giving a complete view of the discoveries and progress of
science in England within the last six years, compressed
into the smallest compass compatible with clearness,
written with all the dignity of perfect simplicity and
candor, like one sensible to national glory, but free from
national jealousy ; whose great object as a philosopher is
the general advancement of science over the whole world,
and whose great pleasure is in conferring well-earned
praise. His addresses to those to whom he presents the
medals are NOBLE — always appreciating the past with
generous satisfaction, yet continually exciting to future
exertion. In each new discovery he opens views beyond
what the discoverer had foreseen, and from each new
invention shows how fresh combinations present them-
selves, so that in the world of science there must be
room enough for the exertions of all : the best and

1826] TO MRS. RUXTON 489

truest moral against envy, and all those petty jealousies
which have disgraced scientific as well as literary men.

Traveling, and his increased acquaintance with the
world, has enlarged the range without lowering the
pitch of Sir Humphry's mind : an allusion I have bor-
rowed from an entertaining essay on training hawks sent
to me by Sir John Sebright. Do you know that there
is at this moment a gentleman in Ireland, near Belfast,
who trains hawks and goes a-hawking — a Mr. Sinclair ?

Sir Humphry repeated to us a remarkable criticism of
Buonaparte's on Talma's acting : " You don't play
Nero well ; you gesticulate too much ; you speak with
too much vehemence. A despot does not need all
that ; he need only pronounce. II sait qu'il se suffit"
" And," added Talma, who told this to Sir Humphry,
" Buonaparte, as he said this, folded his arms in his
well-known manner, and stood as if his attitude ex-
pressed the sentiment."

Sir Humphry thinks that, of all of royal race he has
seen, legitimate or illegitimate, noble par Vepee or noble
by "just hereditary sway," the late Emperor of Russia
was the most really noble-minded and the least ostenta-
tious. A vast number of his munificent gifts to men of
letters are known only to those by whom they were
received. He has frequently sent tokens of approbation
to scientific men in various foreign countries for inven-
tions in arts and sciences which he had found useful in
his dominions. A caisse arrived from Russia for Sir
Humphry, which he thought were some mineralogical
specimens which had been promised to him ; but on
opening it there appeared a superb piece of plate, with
a letter from the Emperor of Russia presenting it to

490 MARIA EDGE WORTH [JULY

him, as a mark of gratitude for the safety-lamp. The
design on the plate, the Emperor adds, was his own : it
represents the genius of fire, with his bow and arrows
broken.

Among other good things which Sir Humphry accom-
plished in his travels was the abolition of the corda, of
ancient use in Naples ; an instrument of torture by
which the criminal was hung up by a cord tied round his
joined wrists, and then pulled down and let fall from a
height, dislocating his wrists to a certainty, and giving a
chance of breaking his arms and legs. This instrument
chanced to be set up near the hotel where Sir Humphry
and Lady Davy resided : they could not bear the sight,
and changed their lodgings. The next time Sir Hum-
phry was at Court, the King asked why he had changed
his residence. Sir Humphry explained, and expressed
himself so strongly that he awakened dormant royal
feeling, and this instrument of torture was abolished.
Sir Humphry had previously represented to our Queen
Caroline, then at Naples, that here was an opportunity
of doing good, and of rendering herself deservedly
popular. She was struck with the idea at the time, but
forgot it ; and then Sir Humphry took it up, and with
the assistance of the public opinion of all the English, it
was accomplished.

Yesterday, when I came down to breakfast, I found Sir
Humphry with a countenance radiant with pleasure, and
eager to tell me that Captain Parry is to be sent out
upon a new Polar expedition.

August 14.

This day, my dearest aunt, our wishes have been
accomplished — the sacred, awful vow has been pro-

1826] TO MISS HONORA EDGE WORTH 491

nounced, and Harriet and Mr. Butler drove from the
church door to Cloona.1

Lucy bore the trials of the day wonderfully well.
She was at the wedding, and much agitated when it
came to the conclusion and the parting ; but there was
fortunately something to be done immediately after-
wards — Sophy's 2 child to be christened : a very nice,
pretty little child it is — Maxwell.

William Beaufort alarmed us by a sudden illness on
Saturday : however, he was able to appear to-day and
perform both ceremonies, and does not seem to have
suffered by the double exertion.

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

BLACK CASTLE, September 3, 1826.

Thank you for wishing to be with me, but I am
sure it will be better for you to be at the sea. Here,
though I am obliged to think of actual business between
times, I have every motive and means for diversion for
myself, both on my own account and on my aunt's. We
run in and out, and laugh and talk nonsense ; and every
little thing amuses us together : the cat, the dog, the
hog, Mr. Barry, or a parachute blown from the dande-
lion.

November 19.

Bess Fitzherbert has written an entertaining letter to
Mrs. Barry, in which she mentions one of the dishes they
had just had at dinner at Po/zo, between Modena and
Bologna : cold boiled eels, with preserved pears, a tooth-

1 Harriet, second daughter of the fourth Mrs. Edgeworth, married the
Rev. Richard Butler, Rector of Trim, and afterwards Dean of Clonmac-
noise.

a Mrs. Barry Fox.

492 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [1826

pick or skewer stuck in each to take them up by, instead
of a fork. My aunt's friend, Madame Boschi, near
Bologna, offered to send a garden-chair drawn by bul-
locks for Bess, the road not being passable for common
cattle.

TO C. 8. EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, December 26, 1826.

I send your account, and have done my best. I have
not read " Boyne Water," but have got Lindley Mur-
ray's " Memoir " and thank you for mentioning it.
Harriet and Mr. Butler come to-morrow. Sophy Fox
and Barry, and their beautiful and amiable little Max-
well, are here. How you will like that child, and make
it see " upper air " ! How long since those times when
you used to show its mother and Harriet upper air ! Do
you remember how you used to do it to frighten me, and
how I used to shut my eyes when you threw them up,
and you used to call to me to look ? Ah ! le bon temps !
But we are all very happy now, and it is delightful to
hear a child's voice cooing, or even crying again in this
house. Never did infant cry less than Maxwell : in
short, it is the most charming little animal I ever saw.
" Animal yourself, sir ! " 1

Pakenham ornamented the library yesterday with
holly, and crowned plaster-of-Paris Sappho with laurels,
and Mrs. Hope's picture with myrtle (i. e. box), and
perched a great stuffed owl in an ivy bush on the top of
a great screen which shades the sofa by the fire from the
window at its back. I am excessively happy to be at

1 Mr. Edgeworth, admiring a baby in a nurse's arms, called it "a fine
little animal." To which the nurse indignantly replied, " Animal your-
self, sir ! "

1827] TO MKS. BANNATYNE 493

home again, after my four months' absence at Black
Castle.

TO MRS. RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, December 28, 1826.

After spending four months with you, it is most de-
lightful to me to receive from you such assurances that
I have been a pleasure and a comfort to you. I often
think of William's most just and characteristic ex-
pression, that you have given him a desire to live to
advanced age, by showing him how much happiness can
be felt and conferred in age, where the affections and
intellectual faculties are preserved in all their vivacity.
In you there is a peculiar habit of allowing constantly
for the compensating good qualities of all connected
with you, and never unjustly expecting impossible per-
fections. This, which I have so often admired in you,
I have often determined to imitate ; and in this my six-
tieth year, to commence in a few days, I will, I am
resolved, make great progress. " Rosamond at sixty,"
says Margaret.

We are all a very happy party here, and I wish you
could see at this moment sitting opposite to me on sofa
and in armchair the mother and daughter and grand-
child.

TO MRS. BANNATYNE.

EDGEWOBTHSTOWN, February 26, 1827.
By some strange chance I was taken away from home
just after the time when Colonel Stewart's pamphlet on
India, which you were so kind as to send me, arrived ; in
short, I never read it till a few days ago. I am in
admiration of it ; it is beautifully written, with such clear-
ness, lucid order, simplicity, dignity, strength, and elo-

494 MAEIA EDGE WORTH [MAKCH

quence — eloquence resulting from strong feeling. The
views of its vast subject are comprehensive and masterly ;
the policy sound, both theoretically and practically con-
sidered ; the morality as sound as the policy, indeed no
policy can be sound unless joined with morality. The
sensibility and philanthropy that not only breathe but
live and act in this book are of the true, manly, endur-
ing sort — not the affected sickly spurious kind, which
is displayed only for the trick of the poet or orator. It
is a book which a good and wise man must ever rejoice
in having written, and which will be satisfactory to him
even to the last moment of his life.

Have you seen the " Tales of the O'Hara Family "
— the second series ? They are of unequal value ; one
called the "Nbwlans" is a work of great genius.
Another book has much amused us, Captain Head's
" Eough Sketches," most animated and masterly sketches
of his journey across the Pampas. There is much in-
formation and much good political economy condensed in
his three chapters on speculators.

TO MBS. RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 4, 1827.

I went with Pakenham to meet my mother at Castle
Pollard, and we had such a nice long talk in the carriage
coming back, our tongues never intermitting one single
second, I believe. I am glad you liked my graceful
gentleman-like bear, and his graceful gentleman-like
Italian leader.1 We have had a succession of actors and
actresses, as I may call them, personating beggars, all at
the last gasp of distress ; so perfect too was one English
1 A traveling showman and bear.

1827] TO MKS. RUXTON 495

woman that she set at defiance all the combined inge-
nuity of the Library in cross-questioning her, and after
writing a long letter for her to a Rev. Mr. Strainer, of
Athlone, I was quite at a loss to decide whether she was
a cheat or not, when one of the Longford police officers
chanced to dine with us. I mentioned her, and out came
the truth ; she had imposed on him and every one at
Longford, and had borrowed a child to pass for her own.
We sent for our distressed lady, who was very " sick
and weak with a huge blister on her chest," and low
voice and delicate motions. Oh ! if you had seen her
when the police officer came into the room and charged
her with the borrowed child. Her countenance, voice,
and motions, all at once changed ; her voice went up at
once to scold-pitch, and turning round on her chair she
faced the chief ; but words in writing cannot do justice
to the scene. I must act it for you.

We are now reading the " Voyage of the Blonde to
the Sandwich Islands," with the remains of the King
and the Queen.1 Pray get this book, it will delight you.
Of the Blonde, you know the present Lord Byron is
Commander — the name strikes the ear continually —
new fame, new associations ; reverting too to the old
Commodore Byron's sort of fame. How curious, how
fleeting, " this life in other's breath."

A little box of curiosities from my most amiable
American Jewess my mother presented to me this morn-
ing at the breakfast-table : I was in an ecstasy, but
shortlived was my joy, for I was thunderstruck the next
instant by my mother's catching my arm and stopping

1King Kamehameha II., of the Sandwich Islands, and his Queen, who
died of the measles in John Street, Adelphi, in 1824.

496 MARIA EDGEWORTH [APRIL

my hand with the vehement exclamation, " Stop, stop,
child, you don't know what you are doing." "No,
indeed, ma'am, I don't — what am I doing ? " She
took the wreath of cotton wool from my passive hand,
and showed me, wrapped up in it, a humming-hird,
luckily unhurt, unsquelched. The humming-bird's nest
is more beautiful than the creature itself. Poor Lord
Liverpool — no one can wish his existence prolonged.

"The painful family of death
More hideous than their queen."

April 8.

I am quite well and in high good humor and good
spirits in consequence of having received the whole of
Lo veil's half-year's rents in full, with pleasure to the ten-
ants, and without the least fatigue .or anxiety to myself.

We are reading the second part of " Vivian Grey,"
which we like better than the first. There is a scene of
gamesters and swindlers wonderfully well done. I know
who wrote " Almack's." Lady de Ros tells me it is by
Mrs. Purvis, sister to Lady Blessington ; this accounts
for both the knowledge of high, and the habits of low,
life which appear in the book. " Poor dear Almack's,"
Lady de Eos says, is not what it was — when people
were poor in London, and there were few private balls,
Almack's was all in all. Her sailor son is going to
publish a journal of a tour, including the United States
and Niagara.

TO C. S. EDGEWOKTH.

EDGKWORTHSTOWN, April 12, 1827.

Now I have done all my agent business, I will tell
you what Mr. Hope, in a letter I had from him this

1827] TO C. S. EDGEWORTH 497

morning, says of "Almack's." " It might have been a
pretty thing, but I think it but a poor one. Of all
slangs, that of fashion is easiest overdone. People do
not hold forth about what is with them a matter of
course. Willis, or his waiters, might have furnished all
the characteristic materials. The author ever and anon
makes up for want of wit by stringing together common
French milliner phrases, which have no merit but that
of being exotics in England. The point consists in his
italics. Besides, he only describes the proceedings, not
the spirit of the institution of Almack's. It was rather
a bold thing in London to put feasting out of fashion,
and to make a seven-shilling ball the thing to which all
aspired to be admitted, and many without the least hope
of succeeding. It was the triumph of aristocracy over
mere wealth. It put down the Grimeses of former days,
with their nectarines and peaches at Christmas, and in
so far it improved society."

All this is very true, but I do not think he does jus-
tice to the author. I particularly like the dialogue in
the third volume, where Lady Anne Norbury debits and
credits her hopes of happiness with her two admirers :
no waiting-maid could have written that. In the second
volume, also, I think there is a scene between Lord and
Lady Norbury in their dressing-room, about getting rid
of their guests and making room for others, which is
nicely touched : the Lord and Lady are politely unfeel-
ing ; it is all kept within bounds.

Mr. Hope begs me to read " Truckleborough Hall."
Of late novels he says it is that which has amused him
most. " Both sides of the political question are reviewed
most impartially ; both quizzed a little, and the reader

498 MARIA EDGEWORTH [APRIL

left in doubt to which the author leans. The transition
in the hero from rank Radicalism to a seat on the
Treasury Bench, while persuading himself all the time
that he remains consistent, is exceedingly well managed.
Interest in the story there is none, because the subject
admits not of it. Like the high-finished Dutch pictures,
mere truth, well and minutely told, makes all its merit."

Then follows a sentence so complimentary to myself
that I cannot copy it, and perhaps you have had enough.
I trust you will give me credit, dear Harriet and Sneyd,
for copying for you other people's letters, when I have
nothing in my own but stupid pounds, shillings, and
pence.

In a letter from my friend Mr. Ralston, from Phila-
delphia, he tells me that seven volumes of Sir Walter
Scott's " Life of Napoleon " have been already printed
there, and reviewed in the "North American Review."
Scott sends his MS. at the same time to London and to
America. I tremble for this publication. Anne Scott
writes to Harriet that her father is so busy writing, that
she scarcely sees anything of him, though they are alone
together at Abbotsford. Lockhart is much admired in
London for his beauty.

TO CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.1

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, April 25, 1827.

I really cannot express to you how much you have
gratified me by the proof of confidence you have given
me. No degree of praise or admiration could flatter me
so much : confidence implies something much higher

i Who bad lent a volume of his London Journal to Miss Edge worth
to read.

1827] TO CAPTAIN BASIL HALL 499

— real esteem for the character. I thank you ; you
shall not find your confidence misplaced. I trust you
will not think I have gone beyond your permission in
considering my own family now with me — viz. Mrs.
Edgeworth, my sisters, and my brother — as myself.
The " Journal " was read aloud in our library : not a
line or a word of it has been copied ; and though some
passages have, I know, sunk indelibly into the memories
of those present, you may rest perfectly secure that they
will never go out beyond ourselves. No vanity will
ever tempt any one of us to boast of what we have been
allowed to read ; we shall strictly adhere to your terms,
and never mention or allude to the book. It is delightful,
most interesting, and entertaining. You may, perhaps,
imagine, by conceiving yourself in my place, remote in
the middle of Ireland, how entertaining and interesting
it must be to be thus suddenly transported into the midst
of the best company in London, scientific, political, and
fashionable ; and not merely into the midst of them, but
behind the scenes with you, and after seeing and hearing
and knowing your private opinion of all. Considering
all this, and further, that numbers of the persons you
mention in your "Journal" we were well acquainted
with when we were in London, you may, perhaps, com-
prehend how much pleasure, of various kinds, we enjoyed
while we read on.

The first page I opened upon was the character of
Captain Beaufort. Do not shrink at the notion of his
most intimate friend, or his sister Mrs. Edgeworth, or
his nieces Fanny and Sophy, having seen this character.
You need not: we all agree that it does him perfect
justice.

500 MARIA. EDGEWORTH [APRIL

Your manner of mentioning Lydia White- was quite
touching, as well as just. She was all you say of her,
and her house and society were the most agreeable of
the sort in London, since the time of Lady Crewe.
Lydia White, besides being our kind friend, was a near
connection of ours by the marriage of her nephew to a
cousin of ours ; and we have had means of knowing her
solid good qualities, as well as those brilliant talents
which charmed in society. You may guess, then, how
much we were pleased by all you said of her. Of all
the people who ever sold themselves to the world, I
never knew one who was so well paid as Lydia White,
or any one but herself who did not, sooner or later,
repent the bargain ; but she had strength of mind never
to expect more than the world can give, and the world
in return behaved to the last remarkably well to her.

All you say of the ill-managed dinner of wits and
scientific men, I have often felt. There must be a mix-
ture of nonsense with sense, or it will not amalgamate :
all wits and no fools, all actors and no audience, make
dinners dull things. The same men in their boots, as
you say, are quite other people. " Two or three ladies,
too " — we were delighted with your finding them use-
ful as well as agreeable on such occasions.

Your account of Sydney Smith's conversation is excel-
lent, and the manner in which you took his criticism
showed how well you deserved it. He will be your
friend in all the future, and I do not know any man
whom I should wish more to make my friend : super-
eminent talents and an excellent heart, which in my
opinion almost always go together. His remarks on the
views you should take of America, to work out your own

1827] TO MRS. KUXTON 501

purpose in softening national animosities, are excellent :
also all he says of American egotism and nationality.
But I should be as ready to forgive vanity in a nation as
in an individual, and to make it turn to good account.
I have always remarked that little and envious minds
are the most acute in detecting vanity in others, and the
most intolerant of it. Having nothing to be proud or
vain of, they cannot endure that others should enjoy a
self-complacency they cannot have.

There is a sentence in one of Burke's letters, which,
as far as England is concerned,. might do for a motto for
your intended travels : " America and we are no longer
under the same crown ; but if we are united by mutual
good will and reciprocal good offices, perhaps it may do
almost as well."

Will you, my dear sir, trust me with more of your
" Journals " ? I think you must see, by the freedom
of this letter, that you have truly pleased and obliged
me : I have no other plea to offer. It is a common one
in this country of mine — common, perhaps, to human
nature in all places as well as Ireland — to expect that,
when you have done much, you will do more ; and you
will, won't you ? If I could get your little Eliza to say
this in a coaxing voice for us, we should be sure of your
compliance.

TO MBS. BUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, May 10, 1827.

I get up every morning at seven o'clock, and walk

out, and find that this does me a vast deal of good.

After three quarters of an hour's walk,1 I come in to the

1 Miss Edgeworth continued her early walks for many years. A

502 MARIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

delight of hearing Fanny read the oddest book I ever
heard — a Chinese novel translated into French ; a sort
of Chinese " Truckleborough Hall ; " politicians and
courtiers, with mixture of love and flowers, and court
intrigue, and challenging each other to make verses upon
all occasions.

My garden is beautiful, and my mother is weeding it
for me at this moment. A seedswoman of Philadelphia,
to whom Mr. Ralston applied to purchase some seeds for
me, as soon as she heard the name, refused to take any
payment for a parcel of forty different kinds of seeds.
She said she knew my father, as she came from Long-
ford : her name was Hughes.

TO MISS RITXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, September 26.

The day before yesterday we were amusing ourselves
by telling who, among literary and scientific people, we
should wish to come here next day. Francis said Cole-
ridge ; I said Herschel. Yesterday morning, as I was
returning from my morning walk at half past eight, I
saw a bonnetless maid on the walk, with letter in hand,
in search of me. When I opened the letter, I found it
was from Mr. Herschel ! and that he was waiting for an
answer at Mr. Briggs's inn. I have seldom been so
agreeably surprised ; and now that he has spent twenty-
four hours here, and that he is gone, I am confirmed in
my opinion ; and if the fairy were to ask me the ques-
tion again, I should more eagerly say, "Mr. Herschel,
ma'am, if you please." It was really very kind of him

lady who lodged in the village used to be roused by her maid in the
morning with " Miss Edgeworth 's walking, ma'am; it 's eight o'clock."

1827] TO MISS RUXTON 503

to travel all night in the mail, as he did, to spend a few
hours here. He is not only a man of the first scientific
genius, but his conversation is full of information on all
subjects, and he has a taste for humor and playful non-
sense, though with a melancholy exterior.

His companion, Mr. Babbage, and he, saw the Giant's
Causeway on a stormy day, when the foamy waves beat
high against the rocks, and added to the sublimity of the
scene. Then he went from the great sublime of Nature
to the sublime of Art. He arrived at the place where
Colonel Colby is measuring the base-line, just at the time
when they had completed the repetition of the operation ;
and he saw, by the instrument, which had not been
raised from the spot, that the accuracy of the repetition
was within half a dot — the twelve-thousandth part of
an inch.

Mr. Herschel has traveled on the Continent. He was
particularly pleased with the character of the Tyrolese —
their national virtue founded on national piety. One
morning, wakening in a cottage inn, he rose, and called
in vain in kitchen and parlor: not a body was to be
seen, not a creature in yard or stable. At last he heard
a distant sound : listening more attentively, and follow-
ing the sound, he came to a room remote from that in
which he had slept, where he found all the inhabitants
joining in a hymn, with beautiful voices.

You may remember having seen in the newspapers an
account of a philosopher in Germany who made cater-
pillars manufacture for him a veil of cobweb. The
caterpillars were inclosed in a glass case, and, by prop-
erly disposed conveniences and impediments, were in-
duced to work their web up the sides of the glass case.

504 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

When completed, it weighed four fifths of a grain.
Herschel saw it lying on a table, looking like the film
of a bubble. When it collapsed a little, and was in that
state wafted up into the air, it wreathed like fine smoke.
Chantrey, who was present, after looking at it in silent
admiration, exclaimed, " What a fool Bernini was to
attempt transparent draperies in stone ! "

Have you heard of the live camelopard, " twelve foot
high, if he is an inch, ma'am " ? Herschel is well
acquainted with him, and was so fortunate as to see the
first interview between him and a kangaroo : it stood
and gazed for one instant, and the next leaped at once
over the camelopard's head, and he and his great friend
became hand and glove.

TO MB. BANNATYNE.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, November 14, 1827.

I send the letter you wished for — not to Cle'ry, who
is dead, but to Louis Bousset, who was the Abbd Edge-
worth's servant, and after his death was taken into
Louis XVIII.'s household, accompanied the Royal
family to Hartwell, returned with them to Prance, and
now lives on a pension from the French Government
and his wife's income ; she was widow to the King's
saddler. They showed much respect, my brother Sneyd
says, to our pious cousin the Abbe* Edgeworth's memory,
and he was much edified by their manner of living
together, Bousset and his wife — he a Catholic, and she
a German Protestant, " perfect Christian happiness
thoroughly existing between two persons of different
Churches, but of the same faith."

Though I admire the instance and exception to gen-

1827] TO MR. BANNATYNE 505

eral rules, I should not wish a similar experiment to be
often repeated; being very much of Dr. Johnson's
opinion, tha* there are so many causes naturally of dis-
agreement between people yoked together, that there is
no occasion to add another unnecessarily.

TO MB. BANNATYNE.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, December 4, 1827.

I am very glad to hear that the author of " Cyril
Thornton" is Mrs. Bannatyne's nephew. I have just
finished reading it, and had made up my opinion of it,
and so had all my family, before we knew that the
author was in any way connected with you. I am not
weary of repeating that I think, and that we all think,
it the most interesting novel we have read for years;
indeed, we could not believe it to be fiction. We read
it with all the intense interest which the complete belief
in reality commands. Officers of our acquaintance all
speak to the reality and truth of the scenes described.
Military men and gentlemen are delighted with Cyril
Thornton, because he is a gentleman, ay, every inch a
gentleman; and with the cut in his face, and all the
hashing and mashing he met with in the wars, we are
firmly and unanimously of opinion that he must be very
engaging. We hope that the author is like his hero in
all saving these scars and the loss of his arm ; but were
the likeness exact even in these, he would be sure of
interesting at Edgeworthstown ; and we hope that, if
ever he comes to Ireland, you and Mrs. Bannatyne will
do us the favor to persuade him to come to see us, and
to bring his charming wife. We hear she is charming ;
and, from the good taste and good feeling of his writ-

506 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1827

ings, we can readily take it for granted that his choice
must be charming, in the best sense of that hackneyed,
but still comprehensive word. There is a peculiar deli-
cacy in this book, which delights from being accom-
panied, as it is, with the strongest evidence of deep
sensibility.

Miss Mary Sneyd, sister of the second and third Mrs.
Edgeworths, who had partially lived with her brother in
Staffordshire after the death of her sister Charlotte,
returned in 1828 to spend the rest of her life at Edge-
worthstown. Here the beautiful and venerable old lady
was a central figure in the family home, where all the
family vied in loving attentions to her. Mrs. Farrar *
describes her there : —

" It was a great pleasure to me to see the sister of
two of Mr. Edgeworth's wives, — one belonging to the
same period, and dressed in the same style as the lovely
Honora. She did not appear till lunch-time, when we
found her seated at the table in a wheel-chair, on account
of her lameness. She reminded me of the pictures of
the court beauties of Louis XIV. Her dress was very
elaborate. Her white hair had the effect of powder,
and the structure on it defies description. A very white
throat was set off to advantage by a narrow black velvet
ribbon, fastened by a jewel. The finest lace ruffles
about her neck and elbows, with a long-waisted silk
dress of rich texture and color, produced an effect that
was quite bewitching. She was wonderfully well pre-
served for a lady over eighty years of age, and it was
pleasant to see the great attention paid her by all the
1 Author of The Children's Robinson Crusoe, etc.

1828] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 507

family. She was rather deaf, so I was seated by her
side, and requested to address my conversation to her.
When lunch was over she was wheeled into the library,
and occupied herself in making a cotton net to put over
the wall-fruit to keep it from the birds. It was worth
a journey to Edgeworthstown to see this beautiful
specimen of old age."

MARIA TO MBS. EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, May 13, 1828.

We had a serious alarm this morning, and serious
danger, but it is perfectly over now, and no damage done
but what a few days' work of plasterer and carpenter can
repair. At seven o'clock this morning a roaring was
heard hi the servants' hall, and Mulvanny,1 who had put
on the blower, found the chimney on fire, and Anne 2 saw
dreadful smoke breaking out in the passage going from
the ante-room of my aunt's dressing-room. Barney
Woods,3 perceiving that it was no common affair of a
chimney on fire, had the sense to ring the workman's
bell. I was dressed, heard it, and Anne met me coming
from my room to inquire what was the matter, and told
me — indeed her face told me! Lovell was up and
ready — most active and judicious. Thirty men were
assembled ; water in abundance. Frank Langan indefa-
tigable and courageous. The long ladder was put up
against the house near the pump ; up the men went, and
bucket after bucket poured down, Mulvanny standing on
the top of the chimney. Meantime the great press, next

1 Mulvanny, the knife-boy.

2 Anne, ladies' maid.
» The steward.

508 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [MAT

the maid's room, was torn down by men working for life
and death, for the smoke was bursting through, and the
whole wall horribly hot. The water poured into the
chimney would not, for half an hour, go down to the
bottom ; something stopped it. A terrible smell of
burning wood. The water ran through all manner of
flues and places and flooded the whole ceiling of the hall.
Holes were made to let it through, or the whole ceiling
would have come down en masse : the water poured
through in floods on the floor; Margaret1 and boys
sweeping it out of the hall door continually. While the
men were at work under Lovell's excellent orders, Ho-
nora and I were having all papers and valuables carried
out, for we knew that if the flames reached the garrets
nothing could save the house. All the title-deed boxes,
and lease-presses, and all Lovell's and all your papers,
and my grandfather's books, and my father's picture were
safe on the grass in less than one hour. It took three
hours before the fire was extinguished, or, I should say,
got under. The pump was pumped dry, but Lovell had
sent long before a cart with barrels for water to the river
— tons of water were used, pouring, pouring incessantly,
and this alone could have saved us.

By eleven o'clock all the boxes and papers and pic-
tures were in their places, and we sent for the chimney-
sweepers, not the old ones, who, as we rightly guessed,
were the cause of the mischief. The chimney has been
broken open and a boy has been working incessantly
tearing down an incrustation of soot — immense pieces of
black tufa, — in fact, the chimney became a volcano, fire,
water, and steam, all operating together. The fire was
1 The housemaid.

1828] TO MRS. RUXTON 509

found still burning inside at five this evening, but is all
out now ; the boy has been up at the top.

The zeal, the sense, the generosity, the courage of the
people, is beyond anything I can describe, I can only feel
it. But what astonished me was their steadiness and
silence, no advising or pushing in each other's way — all
working and obeying. Lovell had lines of boys from the
ladder to the cow's pool handing the buckets passed up
by the men on the ladder to the frightful top. Thank
God not a creature was hurt.

Honora Edgeworth adds : —

I need add nothing to what Maria has said about
others, but I must say about herself, that nobody who
has seen her in small alarms, such as the turning of a
carriage, or such things, could believe the composure,
presence of mind, and courage she showed in our great
alarm to-day. I hope she has not suffered ; as yet she
does not appear the worse for her exertions.

MAEIA TO MKS. KUXTON.

EDQEWORTHSTOWN, November 16, 1828.

Thank you, thank you for the roses; the yellow
Scotch and Knight's dark red, and the ever-blowing,
came quite fresh, and just at the moment I wanted them,
when I had taken to my garden after finishing my gut-
ters. Lady Hartland told me that the common people
call the rose des quatre saisons, the quarter session rose.

Have you read the " Recollections of Hyacinth
O'Gara " ? It is a little sixpenny book ; I venture to
say you would like it ; I wish I was reading it to you.

510 MARIA EDGE WORTH [JAN.

I am much pleased with Napier's " History of the Pe-
ninsular War." The Spanish character and all that in-
fluenced it, accidentally and permanently, is admirably
drawn. There is the evidence of truth in the work.
Heber is charming, but I have n't read him ! People
often say "charming" of books they have not read;
but I have read extracts in two reviews, and have the
pleasure of the book on the table before me.

I have not a scrap of news for you, except that an ass
and a calf walked over my flower-beds, and that I did
not kill either of them. If the ass had not provoked me
to this degree, I was in imminent danger of growing too
fond of him, as I never could meet him drawing loads
without stopping to pat him, till clouds of dust rose
from his thick hide. But now I will take no more
notice of him — for a week !

TO MISS KUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, January 1, 1829.

Fanny Edgeworth is now Fanny Wilson;1 I can
hardly believe it ! She is gone 1 I feel it, and long
must feel it, with anguish, selfish anguish. But she
will be happy — of that I have the most firm, delightful
conviction; and therefore all that I cannot help now
feeling is, I know, only surface feeling, and will soon
pass away. The more I have seen and known of Lestock,
the more I like him and love him, and am convinced I
shall always love him, whose every word and look bears
the stamp and value of sincerity.

Both their voices pronounced the words of the mar-

i Frances Maria, eldest daughter of the fourth Mrs. Edgeworth, mar-
ried Lestock P. Wilson, Esq., of London.

1829] TO MRS. EDGE WORTH 511

riage vow with perfect clearness and decision. Mr. But-
ler performed the ceremony with great feeling and sim-
plicity. I will tell my dearest aunt and you all the lit-
tle circumstances ; at present they are all in confusion,
great and small, near and distant, and I am sick at heart
in the midst of it all with the shameful, weak, selfish,
uppermost sorrow of parting with this darling child.

TO MBS. EDGEWOKTH.

BLOOMFIELD, January 19, 1829.

An immense concourse of people, cavalcade and car-
riages innumerable, passed by here to-day. We saw it,
and you will see it all in the newspapers. Banners with
Constitutional Agitation printed in black, Jfobility and
JVbbility in black, crape hatbands, etc. Lord Anglesea's
two little sons riding between two officers, in the midst
of the hurricane mob, struck me most. One of the boys,
a little midge, seemed to stick on the horse by accident,
or by mere dint of fearlessness : the officer put his arm
round him once, and set him up, the boy's head looking
another way, and the horse keeping on his way, through
such noise, and struggling, and waves multitudinous of
mob.

There is an entertaining article in the " Quarterly
Keview" on "The Subaltern." I do not like that on
Madame de Genlis ; coarse, and over-doing the object by
prejudice and virulence. The review of Scott's Prefaces
is ungrounded and confused — how different from his
own writing ! But there is an article worth all the rest
put together, on Scientific Institutions, written in such a
mild, really philosophical spirit, such a pure, GREAT
MAN'S desire to do good ; I cannot but wish and hope it

512 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [MARCH

might prove to be Captain Beaufort's. If you have not
read it, never rest till you do.

TO CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 12, 1829.

... If I could, as you say, flatter myself that Sir
Walter Scott was in any degree influenced to write and
publish his novels from seeing my sketches of Irish
character, I should indeed triumph in the " thought of
having been the proximate cause of such happiness to
millions."

In what admirable taste Sir Walter Scott's introduc-
tion * is written. No man ever contrived to speak so
delightfully of himself, so as to gratify public curiosity,
and yet to avoid all appearance of egotism, — to let the
public into his mind, into all that is most interesting and
most useful to posterity to know of his history, and yet
to avoid all improper, all impertinent, all superfluous
disclosures.

Children's questions are often simply sublime : the
question your three-years-old asked was of these —
" Who sanded the seashore ? "

TO MISS RTTXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, May 29, 1829.

I cannot forbear writing specially to you, as I know
you will feel so much about Captain Beaufort's appoint-
ment to the Hydrographership ; I wish poor William
had been permitted the pleasure of hearing of it.2 It

1 To the new edition of Waverley.

2 William Edgeworth had died of consumption on 7th May after a two
months' illness.

1829] TO MKS. RUXTON 513

would have given him pleasure even on his dying bed,
noble, generous creature as he was ; he would have re-
joiced for his friend, and have felt that merit is some-
times rewarded in this world. This appointment is, in
every respect, all that Captain Beaufort wished for him-
self, and all that his friends can desire for him. As one
of the first people in the Admiralty said, " Beaufort is
the only man in England fit for the place."

Very touching letters have come to us from people
whom we scarcely knew, whom William had attached so
much : and many whom he had employed speak of him
as the kindest of masters, and as a benefactor whose
memory will be ever revered.

TO MRS. RUXTOX.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, September 27, 1829.

I am now able, with the consent of all my dear guar-
dians, to write with .my own hand to assure you that I
am quite well.

I enjoyed the snatches I was able to have of Words-
worth's conversation, and I think I had quite as much
as was good for me. He has a good philosophical bust,
a long, thin, gaunt face, much wrinkled and weather-
beaten : of the Curwen style of figure and face, but with
a more cheerful and benevolent expression.

While confined to my sofa and forbidden my pen, I
have been reading a good deal : 1st, " Cinq Mars," a
French novel, with which I think you would be charmed,
because I am ; 2d, " The Collegians," in which there is
much genius and strong drawing of human nature, but
not elegant : terrible pictures of the passions, and horri-
ble, breathless interest, especially in the third volume,

514 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MAY

which never flags till the last huddled twenty pages.
My guardians turn their eyes reproachfully upon me.
Mr. William Hamilton has been with us since the day
before Wordsworth came, and we continue to like him.

May 3, 1830.

It is very happy for your little niece that you have
so much the habit of expressing to her your kind feel-
ings ; I really think that if my thoughts and feelings
were shut up completely within me, I should burst in a
week, like a steam-engine without a snifting-clack, now
called by the grander name of a safety-valve.

You want to know what I am doing and thinking of :
of ditches, drains, and sewers ; of dragging quicks from
one hedge and sticking them down into another, at the
imminent peril of their green lives ; of two houses to
let, one tenant promised from the Isle of Man, and an-
other from the Irish Survey ; of two bullfinches, each
in his cage on the table — one who would sing if he
could, and the other who could sing, I am told, if
he would. Then I am thinking for three hours a day of
" Helen," to what purpose I dare not say. At night
we read Dr. Madden' s " Travels to Constantinople " and
elsewhere, in which there are most curious facts : admir-
able letter about the plague ; a new mode of treatment,
curing seventy-five in a hundred ; and a family living
in a mummy vault, and selling mummies. You must
read it.

My peony-tree is the most beautiful thing on earth.
Poor dear Lord Oriel gave it me. His own is dead, and
he is dead ; but love for him lives in me still.

Sir Stamford Raffles is one of the finest characters I

1830] TO MRS. RUXTON 515

ever read of, and did more than is almost credible. I
have been amused with " The Armenians," 1 — amused
with its pictures of Greek, Armenian, and Turkish life,
and interested in its very romantic story.

July 19.

If there should not be any insuperable objection to it
on your part, I will do myself the pleasure of being in
your arms the first week in August, that I may be some
time with you before I take my departure for England
for the winter.

The people about us are now in great distress, having
neither work nor food ; and we are going to buy meal to
distribute at half-price. Meal was twenty-three shillings
a hundred, and potatoes sevenpence a stone, last market-
day at Granard. Three weeks longer must the people
be supported till new food comes from the earth.

This is the last letter Maria Edgeworth addressed to
her aunt. She paid her intended visit to her in August,
but had left her before her last illness began. Mrs.
Ruxton died on the 1st of November, while Maria
was in London with her sister Fanny — Mrs. Lestock
Wilson. The loss of her aunt was the greatest Miss
Edgeworth had sustained since the death of her father.
She had ever been the object of exceeding love, one
with whom every thought and feeling was shared, one of
her greatest sources of happiness.

* A novel by Macfarlane.

516 MAEIA EDGE WORTH [DEC.

TO MISS SOPHY KUXTON.

69 WELBECK STREET, LONDON,
December 8, 1830.

All my friends have been kind in writing to me ac-
counts of you, my dear Sophy. You and Margaret are
quite right to spend the winter at Black Castle ; and the
pain you must endure in breaking through all the old
associations and deep remembrances will, I trust, be
repaid, both in the sense of doing right, and in the
affection of numbers attached to you.

I spent a fortnight with Sneyd very happily, in spite
of mobs and incendiaries. Brandfold is a very pretty
place, and to me a very pleasant house. The library,
the principal room, has a trellis along the whole front,
with 'spagnolette windows opening into it, and a pretty
conservatory at the end, with another glass door open-
ing into it. The views seen between the arches of the
trellis beautiful ; flower-knots in the grass, with stocks,
hydrangeas, and crimson and pale China roses in profuse
blow. Sneyd enjoys everything about him so much, it
is quite delightful to see him in his home. You have
heard from Honora of the sense and steadiness with
which he resisted the mob at Goudhurst.

I spent a morning and an evening very pleasantly at
Lansdowne House. They had begged me to come and
drink tea with them in private-, and to come early : I
went at nine : I had been expected at eight. All Lady
Lansdowne's own family, and as she politely said, " All
my old friends at Bowood " now living : Miss Fox, Lord
John Eussell, Lord Auckland, the young Eomillys, Mr.
and Mrs. Kennedy, Mr. Wishaw, Mr. Turner, — whom

1830] TO MISS SOPHY EUXTON 517

I must do myself the justice to say I recollected imme-
diately, who showed us the Bank seventeen years ago, —
and Conversation Sharpe.

They say that Charles X. is quite at his ease, amusing
himself, and not troubling himself about the fate of
Polignac, or any of his ministers : there is great danger
for them, but still I hope the French will not disgrace
this revolution by spilling their blood. Lord Lans-
downe mentioned an instance of the present King Louis
Philippe's presence d? esprit : a mob in Paris surrounded
him — " Que ddsirez-vous, messieurs ? " " Nous ddsi-
rons Napoldon." "Eh bien, allez done le trouver."
The mob laughed, cheered, and dispersed.

I have seen dear good Joanna Baillie several times,
and the Carrs. It has been a great pleasure to me to
feel myself so kindly received by those I liked best in
London years ago. It is always gratifying to find old
friends the same after long absence, but it has been par-
ticularly so to me now, when not only the leaves of the
pleasures of life fall naturally in its winter, but when the
great branches on whom happiness depended are gone.

Dr. Holland's children are very fine, happy-looking
children, and he does seem so to enjoy them. His little
boy, in reply to the commonplace, aggravating question
of " Who loves you ? Nobody in this world loves you ! "
" Yes, there is somebody : papa loves me, I know — I
am sure ! " and throwing himself on his back on his
Aunt Mary's lap, he looked up at his father with such a
sweet, confident smile. The father was standing between
Sir Edward Alderson and Southey, the one sure he had
him by the ear, and the other by the imagination ; but
the child had him by the heart. He smiled and nodded

518 MAKIA EDGEWOETH [1830

at his boy, and with an emphasis in which the whole
soul spoke low, but strong, said, " Yes, I do love you."
Neither the lawyer nor the poet heard him.

All my friends understand that I keep out of all fine
company and great parties, and see only my friends.

Here the carriage came to the door, and we have been
to see Mrs. Calcott, who was Mrs. Graham, who was very
glad to see me, and entertaining; and Lady Elizabeth
Whitbread as kind and affectionate as ever. She is
struggling between her natural pride on her brother's
ministerial appointment, and her natural affection which
fears for his health.

Joanna Baillie tells me that Lord Dudley wrote to
Sir Walter, offering to take upon himself the whole debt,
and be paid by installments. Sir Walter wrote a charm-
ing note of refusal.

Thursday.

I saw Talleyrand at Lansdowne House — like a corpse,
with his hair dressed " ailes de pigeon " lien poudre. As
Lord Lansdowne drolly said, "How much those atles
de pigeon have gone through unchanged ! How many
revolutions have they seen ! how many changes of their
master's mind ! " Talleyrand has less countenance than
any man of talents I ever saw. He seems to think not
only that la parole etait donnee a I'homme pour deguiser
sa pensee, but that expression of countenance was given
to him as a curse, to betray his emotions : therefore he
has exerted all his abilities to conquer all expression,
and to throw into his face that " no meaning " which
puzzles more than wit ; but I heard none. His niece,
the Duchesse de Dino, was there : little, and ugly — plain,
I should say — nobody is ugly now but myself.

1831] TO MISS HONOR A EDGE WORTH 519

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET, January 8, 1831.

Now I will tell you of my delightful young Christmas
party at Mrs. Lockhart's. After dinner she arranged a
round table in the corner of the room, on which stood
a magnificent iced plum cake. There were to be twelve
children : impossible to have room for chairs all round
the table : it was settled that the king and queen alone
should be invited to the honors of the sitting ; but Mr.
Lockhart, in a low voice, said, " Johnny ! there must,
my dear Sophia, you know, be a chair for Johnny here
— all 's right now."

Enter first, Miss Binning, a young lady of fifteen,
Johnny's particular friend, who had been invited to
make crowns for the king and queen — a very nice
elegant-looking girl with a slight figure.

Then came from the top of the stairs peals of merry
laughter, and in came the revel rout ; the king and queen
with their gilt paper admirable crowns on their heads,
and little coronation robes ; the queen was Mrs. Lock-
hart's youngest child, like a dear little fairy ; and the
king to match. All the others in various ways pleasing
and prettily, simply dressed in muslins of a variety of
colors ; plenty of ringlets of glossy hair, fair or brown,
none black, with laughing blue eyes. And now they
look at the tickets they have drawn for their Twelfth-
Night characters, and read them out. After eating as
much as well could be compassed, the revel rout ran
upstairs again to the drawing-room, where open space
and verge enough had been made for hunt the slipper ;
and down they all popped in the circle, of which you

520 MAEIA EDGEWOETH [JAs.

may see the likeness in the "Pleasures of Memory."
Then came dancing ; and as the little and large dancers
were all Scotch, I need not say how good it was. Mrs.
Lockhart is really a delightful creature, the more lovable
the closer one comes to her and in London. How
very, very kind of her to invite me to this quiet family
party ; if she had invented forever, she could not have
found what would please me more.

TO MRS. EDGEWOKTH.

LONDON, January 20.

I write this " certificate of existence," and moreover,
an affidavit of my being a-foot l again, and can go down-
stairs with one foot foremost like a child, and wore a
black satin shoe like another last night at Mrs. Elliot's.
Now sign, seal, and deliver for the bare life — of Mrs.
Hope and the Duchess of Wellington in my next.

January 22.

I left off at the Duchess of Wellington. I heard she
was ill and determined to write and ask if she wished to
see me ; a hundred of the little London remoras delayed
and stopped me and fortunately — I almost always find
cause to rejoice instead of deploring when I have delayed
to execute an intention, so that I must conclude that my
fault is precipitation, not procrastination. The very day
I had my pen in my hand to write to her and was called
away to write some other letter much to my annoyance ;
much to my delight a few hours afterwards came a little
pencil note begging me to come to Apsley House if I

i Miss Edgeworth had twisted her foot a few nights before in getting
out of the carriage, and was unable to use it for some days.

1831] TO MRS. EDGEWOKTH 521

wished to please an early friend who could never forget
the kindness she had received at Edgeworthstown. I
had not been able to put my foot to the ground, but
I found it easy with motive to trample on impossibil-
ities, and there is no going upstairs at Apsley House,
for the Duke has had apartments on the ground floor, a
whole suite, appropriated to the Duchess now that she
is so ill, and I had only to go leaning on Fanny's arm,
through a long passage to a magnificent room — not
magnificent from its size, height, length, or breadth, but
from its contents : the presents of cities, kingdoms, and
sovereigns. In the midst, on a high narrow mattressed
sofa like Lucy's, all white and paler than ever Lucy
was, paler than marble, lay, as if laid out a corpse, the
Duchess of Wellington. Always little and delicate-
looking, she now looked a miniature figure of herself
in waxwork. As I entered I heard her voice before I
saw her, before I could distinguish her features among
the borders of her cap ; only saw the place where her
head lay on the huge raised pillow ; the head moved,
the head only, and the sweet voice of Kitty Pakenham
exclaimed, " Oh ! Miss Edgeworth, you are the truest of
the true — the kindest of the kind." And a little deli-
cate death-like white hand stretched itself out to me
before I could reach the couch, and when I got there
I could not speak — not a syllable, but she, with most
perfect composure, more than composure, cheerfulness of
tone, went on speaking; as she spoke, all the Kitty
Pakenham expression appeared in that little shrunk face,
and the very faint color rose, and the smile of former
times. She raised herself more and more, and spoke
with more and more animation in charming language,

522 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [JAN.

and with all her peculiar grace and elegance of kindness
recollected so much of past times and of my father par-
ticularly, whose affection she convinced me had touched
her deeply.

Opposite her couch hung the gold shield in imitation
of the shield of Achilles, with all the Duke's victories
embossed on the margin, the Duke and his staff in the
centre, surrounded with blazing rays, given by the City
of London. On either side the great candelabras belong-
ing to the massive plateau given by Portugal, which
cannot be lifted without machinery. At either end, in
deep and tall glass cases, from top to bottom ranged the
services of Dresden and German china, presented by the
Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia. While I
looked at these, the Duchess, raising herself quite up,
exclaimed with weak-voiced, strong-souled enthusiasm,
" All tributes to merit ! there 's the value ; all pure ; no
corruption ever suspected even. Even of the Duke of
Marlborough that could not be said so truly."

The fresh untired enthusiasm she feels for his char-
acter, for her own still youthful imagination of her hero,
after all she has gone through, is most touching. There
she is, fading away, still feeding, when she can feed on
nothing else, on his glories, on the perfume of his in-
cense. She had heard of my being in London from Lord
Downes, who had seen me at the Countess de Salis's,
where we met him and Lady Downes ; when I met her
again two days after we had been at Apsley House she
said the Duchess was not so ill as I supposed, that her
physicians do not allow that they despair. But notwith-
standing what friends and physicians say, my own im-
pression is that she cannot be much longer for this world.

1831] TO MRS. EDGE WORTH 523

TO MISS HONORA EDGEWORTH.

NORTH AUDLEY STREET, February 10, 1831.
I am just come home from breakfasting with Sir
James Mackintosh. Fanny was with me, double, double
pleasure, but we both feel as we suppose dram-drinkers
do after their " mornings." My hand and my mind
are both unsteadied and unfitted for business after this
intoxicating draught. Oh what it is to " come within the
radiance of genius," l not only every object appears so
radiant, but I feel myself so much increased in powers,
in range of mind, a vue d'oiseau of all things raised
above the dun dim fog of commonplace life. How can
any one like to live with their inferiors and prefer it
to the delight of being raised up by a superior to the
bright regions of genius ? The inward sense of having
even this perception of excellence is a pleasure far
beyond what flattery can give. Flattery is like a bad
perfume, nauseous and overpowering after the first waft,
and hurtful as well as nauseous. But as luncheon is
coming and we must go directly to the Admiralty to see
Captain Beaufort and then to the Carrs' — no more
rhodomontading to-day.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

NORTH ACDLEY STREET, February 11, 1831.

You must have seen in the papers the death of Mr.

Hope, and I am sure it shocked you. But it was

scarcely possible that it could strike you so much as it

did me ; I, who had seen him but a few days before, and

1 Quoted from a letter of her sister Anna after the death of Dr. Bed-
does.

524 MARIA EDGEWORTH [FEB.

•who had been rallying him upon his being hypochon-
driac ; I, who had been laughing at him along with
Mrs. Hope, for being, I thought, merely in the cold fit
after having been in the hot fit of enthusiasm while fin-
ishing his book. He knew too well, poor man, what
we did not know. I believe that I never had time to
describe to you the impression that visit to him made
upon me. I had actually forced Mrs. Hope to go up
and say he must see me ; that such an old friend, and
one who had such a regard for him, and for whom I
knew he had a sincere regard, must be admitted to see
him even in his bedchamber. He sent me word that if
I could bear to see a poor sick man in his nightcap, I
might come up.

So I did, and followed Mrs. Hope through all the
magnificent apartments, and then up to the attics, and
through and through room after room till we came to his
retreat, and then a feeble voice from an armchair : —

" Oh ! my dear Miss Edgeworth, my kind friend to
the last."

And I saw a figure sunk in his chair like La Harpe,
in figured silk robe de chambre and nightcap ; death in
his paled, sunk, shrunk face ; a gleam of affectionate
pleasure lighted it up for an instant, and straight it
sunk again. He asked most kindly for my two sisters
— " Tell them I am glad they are happy."

The half-finished picture of his second son was in the
corner, beside his armchair, as if to cheer his eyes.

" By an Irish artist," he politely said to me, " of
great talent."

When I rallied him at parting on his low spirits, and
said, " How much younger you are than I am ! "

1831] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 525

" No, no ; not in mind, not in the powers of life.
God bless you ; good-bye."

I told him I would only say au revoir, and that
never came ; it was only the next day but one after this
that Fanny read to me his death in the paper. It was
dreadfully sudden to us ; what must it have been to
Mrs. Hope ? I am sure she had no idea of its coming
so soon. I forgot to say that as I got up to go away, I
told him, laughing, that he was only ill of a plethora of
happiness, that he had everything this world could give,
and only wanted a little adversity.

" Yes," said he, " I am happy, blessed with such a
wife and such a son ! "

He looked with most touching gratitude up to her,
and she drew back without speaking.

Oh ! I cannot tell you the impression the whole scene
left on my mind.

March 14.

I hope your mother is better, and now inhaling
spring life. Tell her, with my love, that I have ex-
hibited her work1 at various places to the admiration
and almost incredulity of all beholders — such beautiful
flowers at ninety-two !

At last we were fortunately at home when Lady
Wellesley and Miss Caton called, and thanks to my
impudence in having written to him the moment he
landed, and thanks to his good nature, Sir John Mal-
colm came at the same moment, and Lady Wellesley and
he talked most agreeably over former times in India
and later times in Ireland. Lady Wellesley is not

1 A scarf embroidered with flowers, worked for Miss Edgeworth by
Mrs. Beaufort, when she was ninety-two.

526 MARIA EDGEWOETH [MARCH

nearly so tall or magnificent a person as I expected.
Her face beautiful, her manner rather too diplomatically
studied. People say " she has a remarkably good man-
ner ; " perfectly good manners are never " remarkable,"
felt, not seen. Sir John is as entertaining and delight-
ful as his Persian sketches, and as instructive as his
" Central India."

TO HER SISTER HARRIET MRS. R. BUTLER.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET, March 16, 1831.

The days are hardly long enough to read all men's
speeches in Parliament. I get the result into me from
Fanny, and read only the notables. Mr. North's speech
was, as you say, the best and plainest he ever made and
was so esteemed. Macaulay's reads better than it was
spoken, quite marred in the delivery, and he does not
look the orator ; but no matter, in spite of his outside,
his inside will get him on : he has far more power in
him than Mr. North.

Get the eleventh volume of the new edition of Sir
Walter's poems, containing a new introduction and
essay on ballads and ballad-writing, all entertaining,
and a model for egotists which very few will be able to
follow, though many will strive and be laughed at for
their pains.

March 29.

Old as I am and imaginative as I am thought to be,
I have really always found that the pleasures I have
expected would be great, have actually been greater in
the enjoyment than in the anticipation. This is written
in my sixty-fourth year. The pleasure of being with

1831] TO MRS. R. BUTLEE 527

Fanny * has been far, far greater than I had expected.
The pleasures here altogether, including the kindness of
old friends and the civilities of acquaintances, are still
more enhanced than I had calculated upon by the home
and the quiet library, and easy-chair morning retreat I
enjoy. Our long-expected visit to Herschel above all
has far surpassed my expectations, raised as they were
and warm from the fresh enthusiasm kindled by his last
work.

Mrs. Herschel — who, by the bye, is very pretty, which
does no harm — is such a delightful person, with so much
simplicity and so much sense, so fit to sympathize with
him in all things intellectual and moral, and making all
her guests comfortable and happy without any apparent
effort ; she was extremely kind to Fanny, and Mr. Her-
schel to Lestock.

Thursday I went down to Slough alone in Fanny's
carriage, as Lestock was not well, and she would not
leave him. There was no company and the evening was
delightfully spent in hearing and talking. I had made
various pencil notes in my copy of his book to ask for
explanations, and so patient and kind and clear they
were.

On Saturday I began to grow very anxious about six
o'clock, and Mrs. Herschel good naturedly sympathized
with me, and we stood at the window that looks out on
a distant turn of the London road, and at last I saw a
carriage-glass flash and then an outline of a well-known
coachman's form, and then the green chaise, and all
right.

There were at dinner the Provost of Eton in his wig,
1 Mrs. Lestock Wilson.

528 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

a large fine presence of a Provost — Dr. Goodall ; Mrs.
Hervey, very pretty, and gave me a gardenia like a Cape
jessamine, white, sweet-smelling — much talking of it
and smelling and handing it about ; Mrs. Gwatkin, one
of Sir Joshua Reynolds's nieces, has been very pretty,
and though deaf is very agreeable — enthusiastically and
affectionately fond of her uncle — indignant at the idea
of his not having himself written the " Discourses ; "
" Burke or Johnson indeed ! no such thing — he wrote
them himself. I am evidence, he used to employ me as
his secretary : often I have been in the room when he
has been composing, walking up and down the room,
stopping sometimes to write a sentence," etc.

On Sunday to Windsor Chapel; saw the King and
the Queen, and little Prince George of Cambridge, seen
each through the separate compartments of their bay
window up aloft. The service lasted three hours, and
then we went, by particular desire, to Eton College, to
see the Provost and Mrs. Goodall, and the pictures of
all the celebrated men. Some of these portraits taken
when very young are interesting ; some from being like,
some from being quite unlike what one would expect
from their after characters. We saw the books of themes
and poems that had been judged worth preserving. Can-
ning's and Lord Wellesley's much esteemed. Drawers
full of prints ; many rare books ; the original unique
copy of " Reynard the Fox " — the table of contents of
which is so exceedingly diverting I would fain have
copied it on the spot, but the Provost told me a copy
could be had at every stall for one penny.

Got home to Herschel's while the sun yet shone, and
I having the day before begged the favor of him to

1831] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 529

repeat for Fanny and Lestock the experiments and ex-
planations on polarized light and periodical colors, he
had everything ready and very kindly went over it all
again, and afterwards said to Mrs. Herschel, " It is de-
lightful to explain these things to Mrs. Wilson ; she
can understand anything with the least possible explana-
tion."

It was a fine moonlight night and he took us out to
see Saturn and his rings, and the Moon and her volca-
noes. Saturn I thought looked very much as he used
to do ; but the Moon did surprise and charm me — very
different from anything I had seen or imagined of the
moon. A large portion of a seemingly immense globe
of something like rough ice, resplendent with light and
all over protuberances like those on the outside of an
oyster-shell, supposing it immensely magnified in a
Brobdingnag microscope, a lustrous-mica look all over
the protuberances and a distinctly marked mountain-in-a-
map in the middle shaded delicately off.

I must remark to you that all the time we were see-
ing we were eighteen feet aloft, on a little stage about
eight feet by three, with a slight iron rod rail on three
sides, but quite open to fall in front, and Lestock re-
peatedly warned me not to forget and step forwards.

Monday, our visit, alas ! was to come to an end. Mr.
Herschel offered to take Lestock to town in his gig,
which he accepted with pleasure, and Fanny and I went
with Mrs. Herschel to see Sir Joshua's pictures at Mrs.
Gwatkin's. There is one of Charles Fox done when he
was eighteen : the face so faded that it looks like an
unfinished sketch, not the least like any other picture I
have ever seen of the jolly moon-faced Charles Fox, but

530 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

some resemblance to the boy of thirteen in the print 1
begged from Lord Buchan. The original " Girl with a
muff" is here; the original also of "Simplicity," who
has now flowers in her lap in consequence of the observa-
tion of a foolish woman who, looking at the picture as it
was originally painted, with the child's hands interlaced,
with the backs of the hands turned up, " How beautiful !
How natural the dish of prawns the dear little thing has
in her lap."

Sir Joshua threw the flowers over the prawns.

There appeared in this collection many sad results of
Sir Joshua's experiments on colors ; a very fine copy
of his from Rembrandt's picture of himself, all but the
face so black as to be unintelligible. There was the first
Sir Joshua ever drew of himself — and his last : this
invaluable last is going — black cracks and masses of
bladdery paint. He painted Mrs. Gwatkin seven times.
" But don't be vain, my dear, I only use your head as I
would that of any beggar — as a good practice."

Her husband is a true Boast Beef of Old England
King and Constitution man, who most good naturedly
hunted out from his archives a letter of Hannah More's,
which happened to be particularly interesting to me, on
Garrick, in the character of Hamlet ; it was good, giv-
ing a decided view of what Garrick at least thought the
unity of the character.

From metaphysics to physics, we finished with a noble
slice of the roast beef of Old England, " fed, ma'am,"
said Mr. Gwatkin, " by his present Majesty, God bless
him."

Arrived at No. 1 in good time, and dined yesterday at
Lady Davy's. E-ogers, Gaily Knight, Lord Mahon, and

1831] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 551

Lord Ashburner, who was very agreeable. He has been
eleven years roaming the world, and is not foreign-
f angled. Mrs. Marcet, who came in the evening, was
the happiness of it to me.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET,
April, 1831.

Such a day as yesterday ! sun shining — neither too
hot nor too cold. This was just the time of year, I
think, that you saw Knowle, and I never did see a place
and house which pleased me more ; exceedingly enter-
tained with the portraits, endless to particularize. Sev-
eral of Grammont's beauties, not so good in colors as in
black and white. Sir Walter's black and white portrait
of James I. made the full length of his unkingly
Majesty a hundred times more interesting to me than
it could otherwise have been, — mean, odd, strange-look-
ing mortal. And then the silver room, as it is called,
how it was gilt to me by the genius of romance, all
Heriot's masterpieces there, would have been but cups
and boxes ranged on toilette-table and India cabinet but
for the master magician touch. But we had to leave
Knowle, as we had engaged the day before at Brandfold
to go to Mr. Jones (on the Distribution of Wealth) at
Brasted. Such crowds of ideas as he poured forth,
uttering so rapidly as to keep one quite on the stretch
not to miss any of the good things. Half of them, I
am sure, I have forgotten, but note for futurity ; specially
a fair-haired heiress now living, shut up in an old place
called the Moate, old as King John's time. Mr. Jones
had invited Dr. and Mrs. Felton, and had a luncheon

532 MARIA EDGEWOETH [APRIL

comme il y en a pen and wines of every degree : hock from
Bremen, brought over by our mutual friend Mr. Jacob,
and far too valuable for an ignoramus like me to swal-
low.

Chevening ? You are afraid we shall not have time
to see Chantrey's monument. " Oh ! but you must see
it," said Mr. Jones, and so he and Dr. Felton ordered
gig and pony -carriage to let our horses rest, and follow
and meet us, and away we went. Mr. Jones driving me
in his gig to a beautiful parky place where Dr. Felton
flourishes for the summer, and saw his children, who
had wished to see the mother of Frank and Rosamond.
Then through Mr. Manning's beautiful place — never
traveling a highroad or a byroad all the way to Cheven-
ing churchyard. The white marble monument of Lady
Frederica Stanhope is in the church ; plain though she
was in life, she is beautiful in death, something of ex-
quisite tenderness in the expression of her countenance,
maternal tenderness, and repose, matronly repose, and
yet the freshness of youth in the rounded arm and deli-
cate hand that lightly, affectionately presses the infant —
she dies, if dying it can be called, so placid, so happy ;
the head half turned sinks into the pillow, which, with-
out touching, one can hardly believe to be marble. I
am sure Harriet recollects Lady Frederica at Paris, just
before she was married.

We left Chevening, and can never forget it, and drove
through the wealds and the charts, called, as Mr. Jones
tells me, from the charters, and see a chapel built by
Porteus to civilize some of the wicked ones of the wealds
or wilds, and Ireton's house,1 where some say Cromwell
1 Groombridge Place.

1831] TO MRS. EDGEWOETH 533

lived, now belonging to Perkins the brewer. Then " see
to the right that rich green field, where King Henry
VIII. used to stop and wind his horn, that people might
gather and drag himself and suite through the slough,"
and it was near eight before we got to town, and Le-
stock waiting dinner with the patience of Job. He,
Lestock, not Job, is a delightful person to live with,
never annoyed about hours or trifles of that kind.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STKEET, April 30, 1831.

On Monday last I drove to Apsley House, without
the slightest suspicion that the Duchess had been worse
than Avhen I had last seen her. When I saw the gate
only just opened enough to let out the porter's head,
and saw Smith parleying with him, nothing occurred to
me but that the man doubted whether I was a person
who ought to be admitted ; so I put out my card, when
Smith, returning, said, " Ma'am, the Duchess of Wel-
lington died on Saturday morning ! "

The good-natured porter, seeing that I was " really a
friend," as he said, went into the house at my request,
to ask if I could see her maid ; and after a few minutes
the gates opened softly, and I went into that melancholy
house, into that great, silent hall : window shutters
closed : not a creature to be seen or heard.

At last a man servant appeared, and as I moved
towards the side of the house where I had formerly been
— "Not that way, ma'am ; walk in here, if you please."

Then came, in black, that maid, of whose attachment
the Duchess had, the last time I saw her, spoken so
highly and truly, as I now saw by the first look and
words.

534 MAKIA EDGEWOETH [MAY

" Too true, ma'am — she is gone from us ! her Grace
died on Saturday."

" Was the Duke in town ? "

" Yes, ma'am, beside her."

Not a word more, but I was glad to have that certain.
Lord Charles had arrived in time ; not Lord Douro.
The Duchess had remained much as I last saw her on
the sofa for a fortnight ; then confined to her bed some
days, but then seemed much better ; had been up again,
and out in that room and on that sofa, as when we
heard her conversing so charmingly. They had no
apprehension of her danger, nor had she herself till
Friday, when she was seized with violent pain, and died
on Saturday morning, " calm and resigned."

The poor maid could hardly speak. She went in and
brought me a lock of her mistress's hair, silver gray, all
but a few light brown, that just recalled the beautiful
Kitty Pakenham !

So ended that sweet, innocent — shall we say happy,
or unhappy life ? Happy, I should think, through
all; happy in her good feelings and good conscience,
and warm affections, still loving on ! Happy in her
faith, her hope, and her charity !

TO MBS. K. BUTLER.

LONDON, May 6, 1831.

One of our farewell visits yesterday was to Mrs. Lush-
ington ; and when we had talked our fill about our
brother Pakenham, we went to politics, of which every
head in London is fuller than it can hold. Lord Suffield
described the scene in the House of Lords 1 as more

1 On the opening of Parliament, when the King was to propose the
bringing in of the Reform Bill.

1831] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 535

extraordinary than could have heen imagined or believed.
One lord held down by force, and one bawling at the
top of his voice, even when the door opened, and the
King appeared as his lordship pronounced the word
< ruin ' ! "

Ruin did not seize the King, however, nor was he in
the least affected by the uproar. He walked calmly on.

" I kept my eye upon him," Lord Suffield said ; " I
looked at his knees, they did not tremble in the least.
I am sure I could not have walked so firmly ; I do not
believe another man present could have been so calm."

The King quietly took out his paper, felt for his
spectacles, put them on composedly, and read with a
firm voice. They say nothing was ever like the confu-
sion and violence since the time of Charles I. and
Cromwell.

The day before yesterday we did a prodigious deal.
Mr. Drummond came at ten o'clock, by appointment, to
take us to the Mint, to see the double printing-press ;
and we saw everything, from the casting the types to
the drying the sheet ; and then to the India House.
There was some little stop while Pakenham's card, with
a pencil message to Dr. Wilkins, was sent up. While
this was doing, a superb mock-majesty man, in scarlet
cloak and cocked hat, bedizened with gold, motioned us
away. " Coachman, drive on ; no carriage can stand
before the India House — that 's the rule."

Dr. Wilkins came out of his comfortable den to
receive us, laid down his book and spectacles, and
showed us everything. The strangest thing we saw was
a toy of Tippoo Sahib's, worthy of a despot — an
English soldier, as large as life, in his uniform, hat, and

536 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MAI

everything, painted and varnished, lying at full length,
and a furious tiger over him : a handle, invisible at a
distance, in his rihs, which, when turned hy the slave,
produced sounds like the growling of the tiger and the
groans of the man !

We had a very pleasant day at Epping. Mrs. Napier
went with us ; I inside with her, Fanny on the barouche-
seat with Pakenham, and Lestock behind with Sneyd.
The place is so much improved ! I saw Fanny's horse
Baronet : very pretty.

2 o'clock, Luncheon.

Pakenham is eating his last bit of gooseberry pie :
enter Sneyd : boxes — hammering — dreadful notes of
preparation. Pakenham yesterday wore the trefoil pin
with his aunt's hair, and the sleeve-buttons with his
mother's and sister's hair ; and I have added a locket to
hang to his watch-chain, with a bit, very scarce, of my
own hair. The wind is fair : we shall hear from him
from Deal.

TO ]V{RS. EDGEWORTH.

NORTH AUDLEY STREET, May 7, 1831.

I wrote to Harriet yesterday all about Pakenham to
the moment he left this house with Sneyd to join Le-
stock in the City, and go on to Gravesend.

Half an hour after we had parted from Pakenham,
and before we had recovered sense, came a great rap at
the door. " Will you see anybody, ma'am ? " I was
going to say, " No, nobody," but I bid Smith ask the
name, when behind him, as I spoke, enter Mrs. Lush-
ington. " I have forced my way up — forgive me, it is

1831] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 537

for Pakenham ; I hope I am not too late ; I 've brought
him good letters from Mrs. Charles Lushington."

Comprehending instantly the value of the letters, and
our carriage being most luckily at the door, into it Fanny
and I got, and drove as hard as we could down to the
dock, to the very place where they were to take the
Gravesend boat. You may imagine the anxiety we were
in to be in time, boat waiting for no one ; and then the
stoppages of odious carts and hackney-coaches in the
City : I do not believe we spoke three words to each
other all that long way. At last, when within a few
minutes of the end of our time, we were encompassed
with carts, drays, and omnibuses, in an impenetrable
line seemingly before us. Fanny sent Smith on foot
with the letters and a pencil note. We got on wonder-
fully, our coachman being really an angel. We reached
the wharf. " Is the Gravesend boat gone ? " " No,
ma'am, not this half-hour ; half after four, instead of
four, to-day."

We took breath, but were still anxious, watching each
with head out on our own side ; for Smith had not ap-
peared, and Lestock, Sneyd, and Pakenham had not
arrived : great fear of missing them and the letters in
the hurly-burly of packages, and packers, and passengers,
and sailors, and orderers, and hackney-coaches, and
coachmen, and boatmen, men, women, and children
swarming and bawling.

But at last Smith and Lestock appeared together, and
the letters got into Paken ham's hand : he and Sneyd
had gone into the boat, so we saw no more of them ; but
Lestock sent us off on a new hurry-skurry for pistols,
ordered but not brought. To the Minerva counting-

538 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

house we drove, to send the pistols by some boatswain
there : got to counting-house : " Boatswain gone ? "
" No, ma'am, not yet," said the dear, smiling clerk. So
all was right, and Pakenham had his pistols.

SALDEN HOUSE, MRS. CAHR'S, June 6, 1831.

My last days in London crowned the whole in all that
was entertaining, curious, gratifying, and delightful to
head and heart. I am writing while Isabella Carr is
reading out "Destiny," and very well she reads the
Scotch ; so you may think I cannot enter into details of
the past at present, but I must just note —

Lady Elizabeth Whitbread and four Lady Harleys.

Opera with Lady Guilford and two daughters :
" Medea," Pasta : thrilling shiver, gliding sideways to
her children, and sudden retreat.

French play : Leontine Fay in " Une Faute " — the
most admirable actress I ever saw, and in the most
touching piece. Three young men — Mr. Whitbread,
Major Keppel, and Lord Mahon — separately told me
the impression made on them by this actress was such
that they could not sleep afterwards ! I had no trial
how this would be with me, because we went off from
the playhouse to Sir James South' s, to see the occultation
of Jupiter's satellites : that was indeed a sublime reality,
and no wonder we were broad awake till three o'clock.

Next morning St. Paul's : moral sublime. I sat next
Eammohun Roy, and heard all he said. One curious
inquiry he made : " Why are the boys set above the
girls ? " Sermon by the Bishop of Nova Scotia : Judge
Haliburton sat between Fanny and me. Luncheon at
the Bishop of Llandaff 's : forty people. Came home :

1831] TO CAPTAIN BASIL HALL 539

packed up. Mr. Creed at dinner, and this last day
delightful.

TO CAPTAIN BASIL HALL.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, August 14, 1831.

My last visit to universal London confirms to my own
feelings your eulogium. I never was so happy there in
my life, hecause I had, besides all the external pleasures,
the solid satisfaction of a home there, and domestic
pleasures, without which I should soon grow a- weary of
the world, and wish the business of the town were done.
I should be very sorry if I were told this minute that I
was never to see London again, and yet I am wondrous
contented and happy at home. I hope you will come
and see sometime whether I am only making believe, or
telling true.

You say I must never say a discouraging word to you,
because you are so easily discouraged : for shame ! What
is that but saying, " Platter me " ? Now flattery can
never do good ; twice cursed in the giving and the re-
ceiving, it ought to be. Instead of flattering, I will give
you this wholesome caution : in your new volumes do
not weaken the effect by giving too much of a good
thing ; do not be lengthy ; cut well before you go to
press, and then the rest will live all the better. With
your facility, this cannot cost you much.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

RossxREVOR,1 October 2, 1831.

Lestock was gratified by my joining him at Armagh.
Mr. Allott was most hospitable. We walked to the
1 Where the Miss Ruxtons were now living.

540 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [Ocx.

cathedral, and saw views of great extent and beauty, and
heard learned disquisitions about architecture, and a
curious anecdote in support of a favorite theory of his,
that small stones grouted together, Avith lime and water
put in hot, defies old Time. Great alarm was excited
some time ago at Winchester Cathedral : the principal
pillars seemed to be giving way, out of the perpendicu-
lar, and bulged. They fell to work shoring and prop-
ping ; but, in spite of all, the pillars still seemed to be
giving way more and more, and they feared the whole
would come down. Rennie was sent for, but Rennie
was ill, and died. At last an architect looked at the
pillars, picked at them, took off a facing of stone, and
found, what he had suspected, that it was only this
facing that had given way and bulged, and that the in-
side was a solid pillar of masonry, — small stones grouted
together so firmly, that the cement was as hard as the
stone.

rDr. and Mrs. Robinson came in the evening : his con-
versation is admirable ; such an affluence of ideas, so
full of genius and master thoughts. He gave me an ex-
cellent disquisition on the effect which transcendental
mathematics produces on the mind, and traced up the
history of mathematics from Euclid, appealing to dia-
grams and resting on images, to that higher sort where
they are put out of the question, where we reason by
symbols as in algebra, and work on in the dark till they
get to the light, or till the light comes out of the dark
— sure that it will come out. He went over Newton,
and on through the history of modern times — Brinkley,
Lagrange, Hamilton — just giving to me, ignorant, a
notion of what each had done.

1831] TO MISS RUXTON 541

Mrs. O'Beirne — dear, kind soul — would accompany
me on the jaunting-car all the way from Newry to Koss-
trevor, and I am very glad she did ; and as the day was
fine and the tide in, I thought it would be pleasant on
that beautiful road ; and so it would have been but for
the droves of cows — oh, those weary cows with the
longest horns ! — and if ever I laughed at you for being
afraid of cows, you may have your revenge now. Every
quarter of a mile, at least, came a tangled mass of these
brutes, and their fright made them more terrible, for
they knew no more what they were doing than I did
myself ; and there I was sitting at their mercy, and the
horn of one or t' other continually within an inch of my
eye, my mouth, or my breast, and no retreat ; and they
might any moment stick me on the top of one of these
horns, and toss me with one jerk into the sea ! Mrs.
O'Beirne kept telling me she was used to it, and that
nothing ever happened ; but by the time I reached Ross-
trevor I was as poor a worn-out rag as ever you saw.

TO MISS RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, December 22, 1831.

Francis was married on the 19th to Eosa Florentina
Eroles ; Sneyd, Fanny, and Lestock were present. The
bride was dressed in a plain white muslin, with a man-
tilla lace veil of her own work on her head, without any
hat, after the fashion of her own country, with a small
wreath of silver flowers in her dark hair. Her sister
was dressed English fashion, in a bonnet. Both Sneyd
and Fanny say that nothing could appear more gentle-
manlike, gentle, amiable, and happy than the bride-
groom.

542 MAKIA EDGE WORTH [APRIL

TO MES. R. BUTLER.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, April 20, 1832.

Can you conceive yourself to be an old lamp at the
point of extinction, and dreading the smell you would
make at going out, and the execrations which in your
dying flickerings you might hear ? And then you can
conceive the sudden starting up again of the flame, when
fresh oil is poured into the lamp. And can you conceive
what that poor lamp would feel returning to light and
life ? So felt I when I had read your letter on reading
what I sent to you of " Helen." You have given me
new life and spirit to go on with her. I would have
gone on from principle, and the desire to do what my
father advised — to finish whatever I began ; but now I
feel all the difference between working for a dead or a
live horse.

My auriculas are superb, and my peony-tree has eigh-
teen full-swelled buds : it will be in glory by the time
Sophy and Mag arrive.

TO THE SAME.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, August 1, 1832.

It is impossible to tell you how much I miss you.
Never, except at my Aunt Ruxton's, did I ever pass my
time away from home so entirely to my own enjoyment.
Not a cloud obscured the cheerful sky.

We are reading " Eugene Aram ; " and almost all I
have heard I think affected as to language, and not natu-
ral as to character. I am sure the real story and trial
are much more interesting.

1832] TO MISS RUXTON 543

August 21.

Perhaps you think I am at Lady Hartland's at this
moment, poor ignorants as you are ! You must know
that I was so unwell on Friday, the morning of the day
we were to have gone there, that my poor mother was
obliged to send James in the rain (poor James !) to put
off till Monday ; so Lord and Lady Hartland were very
sorry and very glad, and sent us divine peaches.

Sir James Calendar Campbell's " Memoirs " are ill
written — all higgledy-piggledy, facts and anecdotes,
some without heads, and some without tails ; great cry
and little wool, still, some of the wool is good ; and cu-
rious facts thrown out, of which he does not know the
value, and other things he values that have no value in
nature.

TO MISS RUXTON. ,

PAKKNHAM HALL, September 19, 1832.

We came here yesterday to meet Caroline Hamilton
— dear Caroline Hamilton — and her sensible, agreeable
husband. She is always the same, and the sight of her
affectionate, open, lively countenance does one's heart
good. Lord Longford quite well, and Lord Longford
forever : the children beautiful.

Five P. M.

We have been walking and driving all morning, and
seeing all that Lady Longford has done in beautifying
the place and employing the people. I never saw, in
England or Ireland, such beautiful gardens — the most
beautiful American garden my eyes ever beheld. She
took advantage of a group of superb old chestnut-trees,

544 MAKIA EDGEWORTH [Oci.

with oak and ash for a background, which had never
been noticed in that terra incognita; now it is a fairy-
land, embowered round with evergreens.

To-morrow Hercules and Mrs. Pakenham come, with
all their children — a party of thirteen !

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

EDGEWORTHSTOWX, October 9, 1832.

I send you one dozen out of two dozen ranunculus
roots, which good, kind, dying Lady Pakenham sent to
me, with a note as fresh in feeling as youth could dic-
tate.

TO MR. BANNATYNE.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, November 12, 1832.
The death of Sir Walter Scott has filled us all, as his
private friends and admirers, with sorrow. I do not
mean that we could have wished the prolongation of his
life such as it had been for the last months — quite the
contrary ; but we feel poignant anguish from the thought
that such a life as his was prematurely shortened — that
such faculties, such a genius, such as is granted but once
hi an age, once in many ages, should have been extin-
•guished of its light, of its power to enlighten and vivify
the world, long before its natural term for setting !
Whatever the errors may have been, oh, what have been
the unremitted, generous, alas ! overstrained exertions of
that noble nature !

TO MISS RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, November 15, 1832.
Thank you, I am quite well. My only complaint is
that I never can do any day as much as I intended, and

1832] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 545

am always as much hurried by the dressing-bell as I am
at this instant.

Lord Longford and Lord Silchester called here to-day
on their way back from Longford and Castle Forbes ;
they sat till late ; very agreeable. When I congratulated
Lord Longford on having done so much at Pakenham
Hall, and upon having still something to do, he an-
swered, " Oh yes, I never was intended for a finished
gentleman ! "

TO MRS. K. BUTLER.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, December 28, 1832.

I send Mr. Lockhart's letter on the subscription for
Abbotsford ; it does him honor. I combated, however,
his feelings with all the feelings and reasons I have on
the opposite side — that it is a national tribute, honor-
able, not degrading. I refused to give him Scott's letters
for publication, and very painful it was to me to refuse
him, at present, anything he asked ; but principle and
consistency, painful or not, required it, besides my own
feelings. I could not bear to publish Sir Walter's
praises of myself, and affectionate expressions and private
sentiments. I did send one letter to Mr. Lockhart, ex-
emplifying what I mean — the beautiful letter on his
changing fortunes. As to the subscription, all depends
on whether the quantity of good produced will balance
the pain to the family. It would gratify me to give the
£100 I set apart for the purpose, but then comes the
question, with or without my name ? If with, there is
staring me in the face OSTENTATION. If without — set
down as from an " Unknown Friend " — AFFECTATION.

Crampton said my name would be useful, and so I
suppose I should do what would best serve the cause,

546 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [MAY

and put out of the question all consideration of what
may be thought of myself.

Miss Edgeworth's novel of " Helen," begun in 1830,
was finished in the summer of 1833, and read for family
criticism, before being sent to the press.

C. 8. EDGEWORTH TO MRS. C. S. EDGEWOKTH.

^DGEWOKTHSTOWN, May 27, 1833.

After breakfast yesterday I had a stroll with Mrs.
Edgeworth through Maria's flower garden. I wish you
could see her peony-tree : it is in the very perfection of
bloom, as indeed everything is here. After luncheon
dinner, the pony-carriage came round, but was refused
by all : however, as I was putting in execution my long-
formed project of getting a ladder and making the ladies
go up into the sycamore-tree with me, we drove that far.
I fixed the ladder : I went up, and Fanny, Harriet, and
Honora, with a little hesitation, followed. They were
all delighted with this airy parlor, lined with the softest,
thickest moss ; natural seats with backs, a delightful
peep of the house, gay parterres and groves. It was
amusing, Mrs. Edgeworth's and Maria's surprise when
called to from above, as they passed in the carriage.
Then we drove round Francis's new walk through the
horse park fields : beautiful. Then the ladies flocked
to their flower beds, and I was accompanied by one or
two in my rambles, speaking to old workmen, and bri-
bing new to banish the sparrows. After tea much talking
and a little reading ; Harriet read out a new story by
Mr. Brittain, who wrote " Hyacinth O'Gara," and whom
I knew at college.

1833] ME. TO MRS. C. S. EDGEWORTH 547

This morning was everything that was exquisite, and
I have since breakfast had the gardener and heaps of
workmen, and have heen sawing beech-branches, to my
great satisfaction and the approval of others; and in
criticism I have found all agree with me, for " Helen "
is begun, and at eleven we meet in the library; and
Harriet has read aloud four chapters. It is altogether in
Maria's best style ; and I think the public will like it as
hers, the return to an old friend.

31st.

I am sure you would like the cheerful fusion of this
home party : each star is worthy of separate observation
for its serenity, brilliancy, or magnitude ; but it is as a
constellation they claim most regard, linked together by
strong attachment, and moving in harmony through their
useful course. The herons sail about and multiply, the
rookery is banished, the reign of tulips now almost o'er,
and peonies of many bells are taking their place.

I am a stranger to any book but " Helen," scarcely
looking at the newspaper, which Mr. Butler devours.
Harriet has gone in the pony-carriage for Molly, and she
is to be driven by Francis's walk and Maria's garden.

June 1.

Aunt Mary's l interest in " Helen " is delightful.
Never did the whole family appear to more advantage ;
the accordance of opinion, yet cheerfulness of discussion,
is charming.

When the evening reading of " Helen " was finished,
Harriet and I walked round the lawn ; the owls shriek-
ing and flitting by in pursuit of bats : clouds in endless
1 Miss Mary Sneyd.

548 MARIA EDGEWOETH [FEB.

varieties in the unsettled heavens. The library, as we
looked in at it through the windows, with all its walls
and pictures lighted up by the lamps, looked beautiful.
I thought how my father would have been touched to
look in as we did on his assembled family.

MARIA TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWOETH, ESQ.

EDGEWOETH STOWN, Valentine's Day, 1834.

The herons this day (according to their custom as
Sophy tells me) sat all in a row in the horse park in
solemn deliberation upon their own affairs ; the opening
of their budget I suppose. They have much upon their
hands this session, and there must be a battle soon, on
which the fate of the empire must depend ; magpies and
scarecrows abound, and such clouds of starlings darkened
the air for many minutes opposite the library window,
settling at last upon the three great beech-trees, that
Sophy and I would have given a crown imperial had you
been by, dear Pakenham, to see them.

You ended your journal and the announcement of
your appointment to Amballa with exulting in the new
kingdoms of flowers you would have to subdue, and with
the hope that your mother would write to Lady Paken-
ham for her delightful letter to her son. You will have
heard long before this reaches you, my dear, that Lady
Pakenham is no more ; she died last autumn. I wish
that this news could have reached that kind heart of
hers. Honora and I went the very day we received your
journal to Coolure, to thank Admiral Pakenham ; he
met us on the steps in a tapestry nightcap. He has
grown very old, and has had several strokes of palsy,
but none have touched his heart. When Honora read to

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 549

him the whole passage out of your journal and your own
warm expressions of pleasure and gratitude, life and joy
lighted in his dear old eyes. Honora only changed the
words " dear Lady Pakenham " into " the dear Pak en-
hams of Coolure." He asked, " Who wrote ? " and
looked very earnestly in my eyes. I was afraid to say
Lady Pakenham, and I answered, " You know," and
pressed his hand. He did know, passed his hand over
his eyes and said, " Like her : she was a good woman."

February 19.

I yesterday found in my writing-desk a copy I had
made of the letter Lord Carrington wrote to me in an-
swer to mine announcing your former Futtehgur appoint-
ment ; and now that it can go free I inclose it. I like
an expression of Lord Mahon's about him in a note I
lately received from him. " My grandfather is in excel-
lent health, and I cannot offer you a better wish than
that you may at eighty-one possess the same activity, the
same quickness of intellect, the same gushing, warm-
hearted benevolence which distinguishes him." Gushing
benevolence : I like that expression.

Sophy dispatched a letter for you last week, in which
I am sure she told you all domestic occurrences. Barry
has bought Annaghmore in the King's County : an ex-
cellent house ; and Sophy and Barry and all the children
are to stay with us till Sophy's health — very delicate —
is strengthened, and till they have furnished what rooms
they mean to inhabit at Annamore ; this looks better
than with the gh, but Sophy stickles for the old Irish
spelling.

Molly and Hetty, and Crofton and child, are all flour-

550 MARIA EDGEWORTH [FEB.

ishing ; poor old George is declining as gently and com-
fortably as can be. When we go to see him, his eyes
light up and his mouth crinkles into smiles, and he, as
well as Molly, never fails to ask for Master Pakenham.
Though " Helen " cannot reach you for a year, Fanny has
desired Bentley to send you a copy before it is published.
I should tell you beforehand that there is no humor in
it, and no Irish character. It is impossible to draw Ire-
land as she now is in a book of fiction — realities are too
strong, party passions too violent to bear to see, or care
to look at their faces in the looking-glass. The people
would only break the glass, and curse the fool who held
the mirror up to nature — distorted nature, in a fever.
We are in too perilous a case to laugh, humor would be
out of season, worse than bad taste. Whenever the
danger is past, as the man in the sonnet says, —

" We may look back on the hardest part and laugh."

Then I shall be ready to join in the laugh. Sir Walter
Scott once said to me, " Do explain to the public why
Pat, who gets forward so well in other countries, is so
miserable in his own." A very difficult question : I
fear above my power. But I shall think of it contin-
ually, and listen, and look, and read.

Thank you, my dear brother, for your excellent and
to me particularly interesting last letter, in which you
copied for me the good observations on the state of your
part of India, and the collection of the revenue, rents,
etc. Many of the observations on India apply to Ire-
land; similarity of certain general causes operating on
human nature even in countries most different and with
many other circumstances dissimilar, produce a remark-

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWOETH 551

able resemblance in human character and conduct. I
admire your generous indignation against oppression and
wringing by " any indirection from the poor peasant his
vile trash." Some of the disputes that you have to set-
tle at Cucherry, and some of the viewings that you record
of boundaries, etc., about which there are quarrels, put
me in mind of what I am called upon to do here contin-
ually in a little way.

I hope Honora and Sophy have given you satisfaction
about the exact place of the new walks ; as I cannot
draw I can do nothing in that way, but I can tell you
that I have been planting rhododendrons and arbutus in
front of the euonymus-tree. I hope you will have a
good garden in your new residence, and that you will
not be too hot in it. How you could find that your
having more to do, made you more able to endure the
horrid heat you describe, passes my comprehension.
Heat always makes me so indolent, imbecile, and irrita-
ble. I remember all this in the only heat, to call heat,
that I was ever exposed to in Paris and Switzerland ; I
could not even speak, much less write. If I had been
under your 107 degrees I should have melted away to
the very bone, and never, never, never could have penned
that dropping letter as you did to Honora, and with that
puddle ink too. Well ! we are very, very, very much
obliged to you, dear Pakenham, for all the labor you go
through for us, and we hope that under the shade of the
Himalaya Mountains you will be able to write at your
ease and without all manner of stodge in your ink.

552 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [MARCH

21st.

This morning brought, through Harriet, Margaret
Craig's joy at your promotion, and — Honora says I
must go out this delightful sunshine morning, and look
at all the full-blown crocuses, violets, heath, and pyrus
japonica. I have a standard pyrus now — vulgar things
compared with your Indian Prides.

Oh ! my dear Pakenham, I am sure you are shocked
at the death of Sir John Malcolm ! both he and Sir
James Mackintosh, the two whose genius you so ad-
mired, and whose conversation you so enjoyed just
before you left England — both gone !

March 8.

Ever since I finished my last to you I have had my
head so immersed in accounts that I have never been able
till this moment to fulfill my intention of giving you my
travels in Connemara.

I traveled with Sir Culling and Lady Smith (Isabella
Carr). Sir Culling, of old family, large fortune, and great
philanthropy, extending to poor little Ireland and her
bogs, and her Connemara, and her penultimate barony of
Erris, and her ultimate Giants' Causeway, and her beauti-
ful lake of Killarney. And all these things he deter-
mined to see. Infant and nurse, and lady's maid, and
gentleman's gentleman, and Sir Culling and the fair
Isabella all came over to Ireland last September, just as
Fanny had left us ; and she meeting them in Dublin, and
conceiving that nurse and baby would not do for Con-
nemara, wrote confidentially to beg us to invite them to
stay at Edgeworthstown, while father and mother, and
maid and man, were to proceed on their travels. They
spent a pleasant week, I hope, at Edgeworthstown. I

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 553

am sure Honora did everything that was possible to make
it pleasant to them, and we regretted a million of times
that your mother was not at home. Sir Culling expected
to have had all manner of information as to roads, dis-
tances, and time, but Mrs. Edgeworth not being at home,
and Miss Edgeworth's local knowledge being such as you
know, you may guess how he was disappointed. Mr.
Shaw and the Dean of Ardagh, who dined with him here,
gave him directions as far as Ballinasloe, and a letter to
the clergyman there. The fair of Ballinasloe was just
beginning, and Sir Culling was determined to see that,
and from thence, after studying the map of Ireland and
road-books one evening, he thought he should get easily
to Connemara, Westport, and the barony of Erris, see
all that in a week, and come back to Edgeworthstown,
take up Bambino, and proceed on a northern or a south-
ern tour.

You will be surprised that I should — seeing they
knew so little what they were about — have chosen to
travel with them ; and I confess it was imprudent and
very unlike my usual dislike to leave home without any
of my own people with me. But upon this occasion I
fancied I should see all I wanted to see of the wonderful
ways of going on and manners of the natives better for
not being with any of my own family, and especially for
its not being suspected that I was an authoress and
might put them in a book. In short, I thought it was
the best opportunity I could ever have of seeing a part
of Ireland which, from time immemorial, I had been
curious to see. My curiosity had been raised even when
I first came to Ireland fifty years ago, by hearing my
father talk of the King of Connemara, and his immense

554 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

territory, and his ways of ruling over his people with
almost absolute power, with laws of his own, and setting
all other laws at defiance. Smugglers, and caves, and
murders, and mermaids, and duels, and banshees, and
fairies, were all mingled together in my early associa-
tions with Connemara and Dick Martin, — " Hair-trigger
Dick," who cared so little for his own life or the life of
man, and so much for the life of animals, who fought
more duels than any man of even his " Blue-blaze-devil"
day, and who brought the bill into Parliament for pre-
venting cruelty to animals ; thenceforward changing his
cognomen from " Hair-trigger Dick " to " Humanity
Martin." He was my father's contemporary, and he
knew a number of anecdotes of him. Too besides, I once
saw him, and remember that my blood crept slow and
my breath was held when he first came into the room, a
pale, little, insignificant-looking mortal he was, but he
still kept hold of my imagination, and his land of Conne-
mara was always a land I longed to visit. Long after-
wards, a book which I believe you read, "Letters from
the Irish Highlands," written by the family of Blakes of
Renvyle, raised my curiosity still further, and wakened
it for new reasons, in a new direction. Further and
further and higher, Nimmo and William deepened my
interest in that country, and in short and at length all
these motives worked together. Add to them a book
called " Wild Sports of the West," of which Harriet
read to me all the readable parts till I rolled with laugh-
ing. Add also that I had lately heard Mr. Eothwell
give a most entertaining account of a tour he had taken
in Erris, and to the house of a certain Major Bingham,
who must be the most diverting and extraordinary origi-

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 555

nal upon earth — and shall I die without seeing him ?
thought I — now or never.

At the first suggestion I uttered that I should like to
see him and Erris, and the wonders of Connemara, Lady
Culling Smith and Sir Culling burst into delight at the
thought of having me as their traveling companion, so it
was all settled in a moment. Houora approved, Aunt
Mary hoped it would all turn out to my satisfaction, and
off we set with four horses mighty grand in their travel-
ing carriage, which was a summer friend, open or half
open. A half head stuck up immovable with a window
at each ear, an apron of wood, varnished to look like
japanned leather hinged at bottom, and having at top,
where it shuts, a sort of fairy board-window which lets
down in desperately bad weather.

Our first day was all prosperous and sunshine, and
what Captain Beaufort would call plain sailing. To
Bally mahon the first stage. Do you remember Bally-
mahon, and the first sight of the gossamer in the hedges
sparkling with dew, going there packed into the chaise
with your four sisters and me to see the museum of a
Mr. Smith, who had a Cellini cup and a Raphael plate,
and miniatures of Madame de Maintenon, and wonders
innumerable ? But Sophy at this moment tells me that
I am insisting upon your remembering things that hap-
pened before you were born, and that even Francis was
only one year old at the time of this breakfast, and it
was she herself who was so delighted with that first view
of the gossamer in the glittering sunshine.

But I shall never get on to Athlone, much less to
Connemara. Of Athlone I have nothing to say but what
you may learn from the " Gazetteer," except that, while

556 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

we were waiting in the antiquated inn there, while
horses were changing, I espied a print hanging smoked
over the chimney-piece, which to my connoisseur eyes
seemed marvelously good, and upon my own judgment
I proposed for it to the landlady, and bought it for five
shillings (frame excepted) ; and when I had it out of
the frame, and turned it round, I found my taste and
judgment gloriously justified. It was from a picture
of Vandyke's — the death of Belisarius ; and here it is
now hanging up in the library, framed in satinwood,
the admiration of all beholders, Barry Fox above all.

But to proceed. It was no easy matter to get out of
Athlone, for at the entrance to the old-fashioned, nar-
rowest of narrow bridges we found ourselves wedged and
blocked by drays and sheep, reaching at least a mile ;
men cursing and swearing in Irish and English ; sheep
baaing, and so terrified that the shepherds were in trans-
ports of fear, brandishing their crooks at our postilions,
and the postilions in turn brandishing their whips on the
impassive backs of the sheep. The cocked gold-edged
hat of an officer appeared on horseback in the midst, and
there was silence from all but the baaing sheep. He
bowed to us ladies, or to our carriage and four, and
assured us that he would see us safe out, but that it
would be a work of time. While this work of time was
going on, one pushed his way from behind, between
sheep and the wheel on my side of the carriage, and
putting in his head called out to me, " Miss Edgeworth,
if you are in it, my master 's in town, and will be with
you directly almost, with his best compliments. He
learned from the landlady your name. He was in the
inn that minute, receiving rents he is, if you will be

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 557

kind enough to wait a minute, and not stir out of
that."

Kind enough I was, for I could not help myself, if I
had been ever so unkindly disposed towards my unknown
friend. Up came, breathless, a well-known friend, Mr.
Strickland. Introduced amidst the baaing of the sheep
to my traveling companions, and, as well as I could
make myself heard in the din, I made him understand
where we were going next, and found, to my great satis-
faction, that he would overtake us next day at Ballinasloe,
if we could stay there next day ; and we could and
must, for it was Sunday. I cannot tell you — and if I
could you would think I exaggerated — how many hours
we were in getting through the next ten miles ; the road
being continually covered with sheep, thick as wool could
pack, all coming from the sheep-fair of Ballinasloe, which,
to Sir Culling's infinite mortification, we now found had
taken place the previous day. I am sure we could not
have had a better opportunity and more leisure to form
a sublime and just notion of the thousands and tens of
thousands which must have been on the field of sale.
This retreat of the ten thousand never could have been
effected without the generalship of these wonderfully
skilled shepherds, who, in case of any disorder among
their troops, know how dexterously to take the offender
by the left leg or the right leg with their crooks, pulling
them back without ever breaking a limb, and keeping
them continually in their ranks on the weary, long
march.

We did not reach Ballinasloe till it was almost dark.
There goes a story, you know, that no woman must ever
appear at Ballinasloe Fair ; that she would be in immi-

558 MAKIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

nent peril of her life from the mob. The daughters of
Lord Clancarty, it was said, "had tried it once, and
scarce were saved by fate." Be this as it may, we were
suffered to drive very quietly through the town ; and
we went quite through it to the outskirts of scattered
houses, and stopped at the door of the Vicarage. And
well for us that we had a letter from the Dean of Ar-
dagh to the Rev. Mr. Pounden, else we might have
spent the night in the streets, or have paid guineas
apiece for our beds, all five of us, for three nights. Mr.
and Mrs. Pounden were the most hospitable of people,
and they were put to a great trial — dinner just over,
and that day had arrived unexpectedly one family of
relations, and expectedly another, with children with-
out end. And how they did stow them and us, to this
hour I cannot conceive : they had, to be sure, one bed-
chamber in a house next door, which, luckily, Lord and
Lady Somebody had not arrived to occupy. Be it how
it might, here we stayed till Monday ; and on Sunday
there was to be a charity sermon for the benefit of the
schools, under the patronage of Lord and Lady Clan-
carty, and the sermon was preached by Archdeacon
Pakenham ; and after the sermon — an excellent ser-
mon on the appropriate text of the good Samaritan —
an immense crowd before the windows filled the fair
green, and we went out to see. The crowd of good,
very good-natured Irishmen, gentle and simple mixed,
opened to let the ladies and English stranger in to see :
and fine horses and fine leaping we saw, over a loose
wall built up for the purpose in the middle of the fair
green ; and such shouting, and such laughing, and such
hurraing for those that cleared and for those that missed.

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 559

As for the rest of the cattle-fair, we lift on Monday
morning before the thick of it came on.

I forgot to tell you that on Sunday arrived Mr.
Strickland, and he with maps and road-books explained
to Sir Culling where he should go, and how he was to
accomplish his objects. It was settled that we were
to go to Loughrea, and to see certain ruins by going a
few miles out of our way; and this we accomplished,
and actually did see, by an uncommonly fine sunset, the
beautiful ruins of Clonmacnoise ; and we slept this
night at Loughrea, where we had been assured there
was a capital inn, and may be it was, but the rats or the
mice ran about my room so, and made such a noise in
the holes of the floor, that I could not sleep, but was
thankful they did not get on or into my bed.

Next day to Galway, and still it was fine weather,
and bright for the open carriage, and we thought it
would always be so. Galway, wet or dry, and it was
dry when I saw it, is the dirtiest town I ever saw, and
the most desolate and idle-looking. As I had heard
much from Captain Beaufort and Louisa of the curious
Spanish buildings in Galway, I was determined not to
go through the town without seeing these ; so, as soon
as we got to the inn, I summoned landlord and landlady,
and begged to know the names of the principal families
in the town. I thought I might chance to light upon
somebody who could help us. In an old history of
Galway which Mr. Strickland picked up from a stall at
Ballinasloe, I found prints of some of the old buildings
and names of the old families ; and the landlord having
presented me with a list as long as an alderman's bill of
fare of the names of the gentlemen and ladies of Gal-

560 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MAKCH

way, I pitched upon the name of a physician, a Dr.
Veitch, of whom I had found a fine character in my
book. He had been very good to the poor during a
year of famine and fever. To him I wrote, and just as
I had finished reading his panegyric to Lady Smith, in
he walked ; and he proved to be an old acquaintance.
He was formerly a surgeon in the army, and was quar-
tered at Longford at the time of the rebellion : remem-
bered our all taking shelter there, how near my father
was being killed by the mob, and how courageously he
behaved. Dr. Veitch had received some kindness from
him, and now he seemed anxious, thirty-five years after-
wards, to return that kindness to me and my com-
panions. He walked with us all over Galway, and
showed us all that was worth seeing, from the new quay
projecting, and the new green Connemara marble-cutters'
workshop, to the old Spanish houses with projecting
roofs and piazza walks beneath ; and, wading through
seas of yellow mud thick as stirabout, we went to see
archways that had stood centuries, and above all to the
old mayoralty house of that mayor of Galway who hung
his own son ; and we had the satisfaction of seeing the
very window from which the father with his own hands
hung his own son, and the black marble marrowbones
and death's head, and inscription and date, 1493. I
dare say you know the story ; it formed the ground-
work very lately of a tragedy. The son had — from
jealousy as the tragedy has it, from avarice according to
the vulgar version — killed a Spanish friend ; and the
father, a modern Brutus, condemns him, and then goes
to comfort him. I really thought it worth while to
wade through mud to see these awful old relics of other

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 561

times and other manners. But, coming back again, at
every turn it was rather disagreeable to have "fish"
bawled into one's ears, and " fine flat fish " flapped in
one's face. The fish-market was fresh supplied, and
Galway is famous for John Dorees. " A John Doree,
ma'am, for eighteen pence — a shilling — sixpence ! "
A John Doree could not be had for guineas in London.
Quin, the famous actor, wished he was all throat when
he was eating a John Doree. But still it was not
pleasant, at every turn and every crossing, to have ever
so fine John Dorees flapped in one's face. Sir Culling
bought one for sixpence, and it was put into the car-
riage ; and we took leave of Dr. Veitch, and left
Galway.

From Galway Sir Culling was obliged to take job
horses, as he was warned that we were entering a coun-
try where post horses were not to be found, and were
never even heard of. Dr. Veitch bid us not think of
entering Connemara this night. " You will have to
send after me soon, if you don't take care. You have
no idea of the places you are going into, and that you
may have to sleep in."

The next place we were to go to, and where Dr. Veitch
advised us to sleep, was Outerard, a small town or vil-
lage, where he told us was an inn, or an hotel, as even
in these out-of-the-world regions it is now called. It
was but fifteen miles, and this with four horses was not
two hours' drive ; and Sir Culling thought it would be
sad waste of daylight to sleep at Outerard, for still he
measured his expected rate of traveling by his Bath
Road standard. Though we left Galway at three, we
were not at Outerard till past seven, with our fine, fresh

562 MAKIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

horses ; and excellent horses they really were, and well
harnessed, too, with well-accoutred postilions in dark
blue jackets and good hats and hoots, all proper, and an
ugly little dog running joyously along with the horses.
Outerard, as well as we could see it, was a pretty moun-
tain-scattered village, with a pond and trees, and a sort
of terrace-road, with houses and gardens on one side, and
a lower road with pond and houses on the other. There
is a spa at Outerard to which bettermost sort of people
come in the season ; but this was not the season, and
the place had that kind of desolate look, mixed with
pretensions, too, which a watering-place out of season
always has.

When we came to the hotel, our hearts sank within
us. Dusk as it was, there was light enough to guess, at
first sight, that it would never do for sleeping — half
covered with overgrown ivy, damp, forlorn, windows
broken, shattered look all about it. With difficulty we
got at the broken gate into the very small and dirty
courtyard, where the four horses could hardly stand
with the carriage. Out came such a master and such a
maid ! and such fumes of whiskey-punch and tobacco.
Sir Culling got down from his barouche-seat, to look if
the house was practicable; but soon returned, shaking
his head, and telling us in French that it was quite im-
possible; and the master of the inn, with half threats,
half laughter, assured us we should find no other place
in Outerard. I inquired for the Priest's house. I was
on the point of asking, " Has the Priest any family ? "
but recollected myself in time, and asked whether the
Priest's house was large enough to hold us. " Not an
atom of room to spare in it, ma'am." Then I inquired

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 563

for the Chief of the Police, the Clergyman, or the Magis-
trate. " Not in it, neither, none ; but the Chief of
the Police's house is there on the top of the hill ; but
you will not get in."

We went there, however, and up the hill toiled, and
to the door of a sort of spruce-looking lantern of a
house, without tree or shrub near it. But still it might
be good to sleep in ; and, nothing daunted by the maid's
prophecies and ominous voice, we determined to try our
fate. Sir Culling got down and rubbed his hands ;
while, after his man's knocking at the door several
times, no one came to open it, though through the
large drawing-room window we saw figures gliding
about. At last the door half opened by hands un-
seen, and Sir Culling, pushing it wholly open, went
in ; and we sat in the carriage, waiting as patiently as
we could. The figures in black and white came to the
window, and each had pocket-handkerchiefs in their
hands or at their eyes. Sir Culling reappeared, ordered
the horses to be turned about again ; and when he
had remounted his barouche-seat, which he did with all
convenient speed, he informed us that a lady had died
in this house a few days before, of cholera ; that she had
this day been buried; that under any other circum-
stances the master and mistress would have been happy
to receive us, but now it was quite impossible, for our
sake and their own. The damp, broken-windowed hole
was preferable ; so back we went. But as we went
along the high road, down in the low road on the other
side of the pond, through the duskiness we saw lights
in several houses ; and in front of one long house which
looked whiter than the rest, we stopped at an opening

564 MAEIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

in the road where was a path which led to the valley
beneath, and Sir Culling, who proved in this our need
an active knight, sallied down to adventure another
trial ; and in a few minutes after •immerging into this
mud castle, and emerging from it, he waved his arm over
his head in sign of triumph, and made a sign to the
postilions to turn down into the valley, which they did
without overturning us ; and to our satisfaction we found
ourselves housed at Mrs. O'Flaherty's, who did not keep an
inn, observe ; her admitting us, observe, depended upon
our clearly understanding that she did not so demean
herself. But she in the season let her house as a board-
ing-house to the quality, who came to Outerard to drink
the waters or to bathe. So, to oblige us poor travelers,
without disgrace to the blood and high descent of the
O'Flaherties, she took us in, as we were quality, and she
turned her two sons out of their rooms and their beds for
us ; and most comfortably we were lodged. And we ate
the John Doree we had brought with us, and I thought
it not worth all the talking about it I had heard;
and, for the first time in my days or nights, this night
I tasted a toombler of anti-Parliament whiskey, alias
poteen, and water ; and, of all the detestable tastes that
ever went into my mouth, or smells that ever went
under my nose, I think this was the worst — literally
smoke and fire spirit. Isabella observed that she had
often drank Innishowon and water with dear Agnes and
Joanna Baillie. There's no disputing about tastes;
therefore I did not dispute, only set down the tumbler,
and sip took never more ; for I could as soon have drank
the chimney smoking. The doors, just opening with a
latch, received us into our bedrooms, with good turf

1835] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWOETH 565

fires on the hearth, coved ceilings, and presses, and all
like bedrooms in an English farmhouse more than an
Irish : wonderful comfortable for Outerard, after fear of
the cholera and the dead woman especially.

Next day, sun shining and a good breakfast, our spirit
of traveling adventure up within us, we determined
that, before proceeding on our main adventure into Con-
nemara, we would make a little episode to see a wonder-
ful cave in the neighborhood. Our curiosity to see it
had been excited by the story of the lady and the white
trout in " Lovers' Legends." It is called the Pigeon-
hole ; not the least like a pigeon-hole, but it is a sub-
terraneous passage, where a stream flows which joins the
waters of Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. Outerard is
on the borders of Lough Corrib, and we devoted this
day to boating across Lough Corrib, to see this famous
cavern, which is on the opposite side of the lake, and
also to see a certain ruined monastery. We passed over
the lake, admiring its beauty and its many islands —
little bits of islands, of which the boatmen tell there are
three hundred and sixty-five ; be the same more or less,
one for every day in the year at least. We saw the
ruins, which are very fine ; but I have not time to say
more about them. We crossed the churchyard and a
field or two, and all was as flat, and bare, and stony as
can be imagined ; and as we were going and going farther
from the shore of the lake, I wondered how and when
we were to- come to this cavern. The guide called me
to stop, and I stopped ; and well I did : I was on the
brink of the Pigeon-hole — just like an uufenced entrance
to a deep, deep well. The guide went down before us,
and was very welcome ! Down and down and down

566 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [MARCH

steps almost perpendicular, and as much as my little
legs could do to reach from one to the other ; darker
and darker, and there were forty of them I am sure,
well counted — though certainly I never counted them,
but was right glad when I felt my feet at the bottom,
on terra firma again, even in darkness, and was told to
look up, and that I had come down sixty feet and more.
I looked up and saw glimmering light at the top, and
as my eyes recovered, more and more light through the
large fern leaves which hung over the opening at top,
and the whole height above looked like the inside of a
lime-kiln, magnified to gigantic dimensions, with lady-
fern — it must be lady-fern, because of the fairies — and
lichens, names unknown, hanging from its sides. The
light of the sun now streaming in I saw plainly, and
felt why the guide held me fast by the arm — I was on
the brink of the very narrow dark stream of water,
which flowed quite silently from one side of the cavern
to the other ! To that other side, my eye following the
stream as it flowed, I now looked, and saw that the
cavern opened under a high archway in the rock. How
high that was, or how spacious, I had not yet light
> enough to discern. But now there appeared from the
steps down which we had descended an old woman with
a light in her hand. Our boy guide hailed her by the
name of Madgy Burke. She scrambled on a high jut of
rock in the cavern ; she had a bundle of straw under
one arm, and a light flickering in the other, her grizzled
locks streaming, her garments loose and tattered, all
which became suddenly visible as she set fire to a great
wisp of straw, and another and another she plucked
from her bundle and lighted, and waved the light above

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGE WORTH • 567

and underneath. It was like a scene in a melodrama
of Cavern and Witch — the best cavern scene I ever
beheld. As she continued to throw down, from the
height where she stood, the lighted bundles of straw,
they fell on the surface of the dark stream below, and
sailed down the current, under the arch of the cavern,
lighting its roof at the vast opening, and looking like
tiny fire-ships, one after another sailing on, and disap-
pearing. We could not help watching each as it blazed,
till it vanished. We looked till we were tired, then
turned and clambered up the steps we had scrambled
down, and found . ourselves again in broad daylight, in
upper air and on the flat field ; and the illusion was
over, and there stood, turned into a regular old Irish
beggar-woman, the Witch of Outerard, and Madgy Burke
stood confessed, and began to higgle with Sir Culling
and to flatter the English quality for a sixpence more.

Meanwhile we were to cross Lough Corrib ; and well
for us that we had the prudence to declare, early in the
morning, that we would not take a sailboat, for a sail-
boat is dangerous in the sudden squalls which rise in
these mountain regions and on these lakes, very like the
Swiss lakes for that matter. For instance, on the Lake
de Lucerne, I have seen sunshine and glassy surface
change in five minutes to storm and cloud so black and
thick, that Mont Pilate himself could not be discerned
through it more than if he never stood there in all his
sublimity.

Our day had changed, and very rough Avas the lake ;
and the boatmen, to comfort us and no doubt amuse
themselves, as we rose up and down on the billows, told
us stones of boats that had been lost in these storms,

568 MAKIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

and of young Mr. Brown last year, that was drowned
in a boat within view of his brother standing on that
island, which we were just then to pass. " And when
so near he could almost have reached him, you 'd have
thought."

"And why didn't he, then ? " said I.

" Oh, bless you, ma'am, he could n't ; for," said the
boatman, dropping his oar, which I did not like at all,
" for, mind you, ma'am, it was all done in the clap of
one's hand," and he clapped his hands.

" Well, take up your oar," cried I ; which he did, and
rowed amain, and we cleared Brown's Island, and I have
no more dangers, fancied or other, to tell you ; and after
two hours' hard rowing, which may give you the measure
of the width of Lough Corrib at this place, we landed,
and were right glad to eat Mrs. O'Flaherty's ready din-
ner. Lough Corrib trout — not the White Lady trout.

Sir Culling had intended to pursue his road this even-
ing and reach Lough Corrib Lodge to sleep, but before
we got the first mouthful of dinner into our mouths it
was stone dark, whatever kind of darkness that is, and
we agreed on old George's excellent principle to leave it
till " morning, ma'am, if you please."

So the morning came, and a fine morning still it was ;
and we set out, leaving Mrs. O'Flaherty curtsying and
satisfied. I cannot make out any wonders, or anything
like an adventure between Outerard and Corrib Lodge ;
only the road was rough and the country like the Isle of
Anglesea, as if stones and fragments of rock had showered
down on the earth and tracts of bog-heath such as Eng-
land never saw and Scotland seldom sees, except in the
Highlands. We were only about twice the time that Sir

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWOETH 569

Culling had calculated on getting over this part of the
road with our powerful Galway horses and steady dri-
vers, and reaching Corrib Lodge Sir Culling said : " These
roads are not so very bad ; we shall get on, Miss Edge-
worth, very well, you will see."

Corrib Lodge is a neat bleak-looking house, which Mr.
Nimmo built for his own residence when he was over-
seer of the roads, now turned into an inn, kept by his
Scotch servant, who used to come with him to Edge-
worthstown, and he gave us bread and butter and milk,
and, moreover, hare soup, such as the best London tavern
might have envied. For observe, that hares abound in
these parts, and there is no sin in killing them, and how
the cook came to be so good I cannot tell you, but so it
certainly was. Invigorated and sanguine, we were ready
to get into the carriage again, purposing to reach Clifden
this evening — it was now three o'clock ; we had got
through half our thirty-six miles; no doubt we could
easily, Sir Culling argued, manage the other half before
dark. But our wary Scotch host shook his head and
observed that if his late master Mr. Nimmo's road was
but open so we might readily, but Mr. Nimmo's new
road was not opened, and why, because it was not fin-
ished. Only one mile or so remained unfinished, and as
that one mile of unmade unfinished road was impassable
by man, boy, or Connemara pony, what availed the new
road for our heavy carriage and four horses ? There
was no possibility of going round, as I proposed ; we
must go the old road, if road it could be called, all bog
and bog-holes, as our host explained to us : " It would
be wonderful if we could get over it, for no carriage had
ever passed, nor ever thought of attempting to pass, no-

570 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MAKCH

thing but a common car these two years at least, except
the Marquis of Anglesea and suite, and his Excellency
was on horseback." As for such a carriage as Sir Cull-
ing's, the like, as men and boys at the door told us, had
never been seen in these parts.

Sir Culling stood a little daunted. We inquired — I
particularly — how far it was to Ballinahinch Castle, where
the Martins live, and which I knew was some miles on
this side of Clifden. I went into Corrib Lodge and wrote
with ink on a visiting-ticket with " Miss Edgeworth," on
it, my compliments, and Sir Culling and Lady Smith's, a
petition for a night's hospitality, to use in case of our
utmost need.

The Scotchman could not describe exactly how many
bad steps there were, but he forewarned us that they
were bad enough, and as he sometimes changed the
words lad steps into sloughs, our Galway postilions
looked graver and graver, hoped they should get their
horses over, but did not know ; they had never been this
road, never farther than Outerard, but they would do all
that men and beasts could do.

The first bad step we came to was indeed a slough, but
only a couple of yards wide across the road. The
horses, the moment they set their feet upon it, sank up
to their knees, and were whipped and spurred, and they
struggled and floundered, and the carriage, as we inside
passengers felt, sank and sank. Sir Culling was very
brave and got down to help. The postilions leaped off,
and bridles in hand gained the shore, and by dint of
tugging, and whipping, and hallooing, and dragging of
men and boys, who followed from Corrib Lodge, we
were got out and were on the other side.

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWOETH 571

Farther on we might fare worse, from what we could
learn, so in some commotion we got out and said we
would rather walk. And when we came to the next
bad step, the horses, seeing it was a slough like the first,
put back their ears and absolutely refused to set foot
upon it, and they were, the postilions agreed, quite
right ; so they were taken off and left to look on, while
by force of arms the carriage was to be got over by men
and boys, who, shouting, gathered from all sides, from
mountain- paths down which they poured, and from fields
where they had been at work or loitering; at the sight
of the strangers they nocked to help — such a carriage
had never been seen before — to help common cars, or
jaunting-cars over these bad steps they had been used.
" This heavy carriage ! sure it was impossible, but sure
they might do it." And they talked and screamed
together in English and Irish equally unintelligible to
us, and in spite of all remonstrance about breaking the
pole — pole, and wheels, and axle, and body, they seized
of the carriage, and standing and jumping from stone to
stone, or any tuft of bog that could bear them, as their
practiced eyes saw ; they, I cannot tell you how, dragged,
pushed, and screamed the carriage over. And Sir Cull-
ing got over his way, and Lady Smith would not be
carried, but leaping and assisted by men's arms and
shouts, she got to the other side. And a great giant, of
the name of Ulick Burke, took me up in his arms as he
might a child or a doll, and proceeded to carry me over
— while I, exceedingly frightened and exceedingly civil,
and (as even in the moment of most danger I could not
help thinking and laughing within me at the thought)
very like Kory in his dream on the eagle's back, in his

572 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

journey to the moon, I kept alternately flattering my
giant, and praying, " Sir, sir, pray set me down j do let
me down now, sir, pray."

" Be asy ; be quite, can't you, dear, and I '11 carry you
over to the other side safely, all in good time," flounder-
ing as he went.

"Thank you, sir, thank you. Now, sir, now set me
down, if you will be so very good, on the bank."

Just as we reached the bank he stumbled and sank
knee-deep, but threw me, as he would a sack, to shore,
and the moment I felt myself on terra firma, I got up
and ran off, and never looked back, trusting that my
giant knew his own business ; and so he did, and, all
dirt and bog-water, was beside me again in a trice.
" Did not I carry you over well, my lady ? Oh, it 's I
am used to it, and helped the Lord Anglesea when he
was in it."

So as we walked on, while the horses were coming
over, I don't know how, Ulick and a tribe of wild Con-
nemara men and boys followed us, all talking at once,
and telling us there were twenty or thirty such bad
steps, one worse than another, farther and farther on.
It was clear that we could not walk all the twelve miles,
and the men and Sir Culling assuring us that they
would get us safe over, and that we had better get into
the carriage again, and in short that we must get in, we
submitted.

I confess, Pakenham, I was frightened nearly out of
my wits. At the next trial Lady Culling Smith was
wonderfully brave, and laughed when the carriage was
hauled from side to side, so nearly upset, that how each
time it escaped I could not tell ; but at last, when down

3834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 573

it sank, and all the men shouted and screamed, her cour-
age fell, and she confessed afterwards she thought it was
all over with us, and that we should never be got out of
this bog-hole. Yet out we were got ; but how ? what
with the noise, and what with the fright, far be it from
me to tell you. But I know I was very angry with a
boy for laughing in the midst of it : a little dare-devil of
a fellow, as my giant Ulick called him ; I could with
pleasure have seen him ducked in bog water ! but forgot
my anger in the pleasure of safe landing, and now I
vowed I could and would walk the whole ten miles
farther, and would a thousand times rather.

My scattered senses and common sense returning, it
now occurred to me that it would be desirable to avail
myself of the card I had in my bag, and beg a night's
lodging at our utmost need. It was still broad daylight,
to be sure, and Sir Culling still hoped we should get on
to Clifden before dark. But I did request he would dis-
patch one of these gossoons to Ballinahinch Castle with
my card immediately. It could do no harm, I argued,
and Lady Smith seconded me with, " Yes, dear Culling,
do," and my dear giant Ulick backed me with, " Troth,
you 're right enough, ma'am. Troth, sir, it will be dark
enough soon, and long enough before you 're clean over
them sloughs, farthest on beyant where we can engage to
see you over. Sure, here 's my own boy will run with
the speed of light with the lady's card."

I put it into his hand with the promise of half a
crown, and how he did take to his heels !

We walked on, and Ulick, who was a professional wit
as well as a giant, told us the long-ago tale of Lord
Anglesea's visit to Connemara, and how as he walked

574 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

beside his horse this gentleman-lord, as he was, had
axed him which of his legs he liked hest.

Now Ulick knew right well that one was a cork leg,
but he never let on, as he told us, and pretended the one
leg was just the same as t' other, and he saw no differ in
life, " which pleased my lord-lif tenant greatly, and then
his lordship fell to explaining to me why it was cork,
and how he lost it in battle, which I knew before as
well as he did, for I had larned all about it from our
Mr. Martin, who was expecting him at the castle, but
still I never let on, and handled the legs one side of the
horse and t' other and asy found out, and tould him,
touching the cork, ' Sure this is the more honorable' '

Which observation surely deserved, and I hope
obtained, half a crown. Our way thus beguiled by
Ulick' s Irish wit, we did not for some time feel that
we could not walk forever. Lady Culling Smith com-
plained of being stiff and tired, and we were compelled
to the carriage again, and presently heavy dews of
evening falling, we were advised to let down those fairy
board-shutters I described to you, which was done with
care and cost of nails. I did it at last, and oh ! how I
wished it up again when we were boxed up, and caged
in without the power of seeing more than glimpses of
our danger — glimpses heightening imagination, and, if
we were to be overturned, all this glass to be broken
into our eyes and ears.

Well ! well ! I will not wear your sympathy and
patience eighteen times out, with the history of the
eighteen sloughs we went, or were got, through at the
imminent peril of our lives. Why the carriage was not
broken to pieces I cannot tell, but an excellent strong

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 575

carriage it was, thank Heaven, — and the builder, who-
ever he was.

I should have observed to you that while we yet could
look about us, we had continually seen, to increase our
sense of vexation, Nimmo's new road looking like a
gravel walk running often parallel to our path of danger,
and yet for want of being finished there it was, useless
and most tantalizing.

Before it grew quite dark, Sir Culling tapped at our
dungeon window, and bid us look out at a beautiful
place, a paradise in the wilds. " Look out ? How ? "
"Open the little window at your ear, and this just
before you — push the bolt back." " But I can't."

With the help of an ivory cutter lever, however, I
did accomplish it, and saw indeed a beautiful place, be-
longing, our giant guide told us, to Dean Mahon, well
wooded and most striking in this desert.

It grew dark, and Sir Culling, very brave, walking
beside the carriage, when we came to the next bad step,
sank above his knees ; how they dragged him out I
could not see, and there were we in the carriage stuck
fast in a slough, which, we were told, was the last but
one before Ballinahinch Castle, when my eyes were
blessed with a twinkling light in the distance — a boy
with a lantern. And when, breathless, he panted up to
the side of the carriage and thrust up lantern and note
(we still in the slough), how glad I was to see him and
it ! and to hear him say, " Then Mr. Martin 's very
unaasy about yees — so he is."

" I am very glad of it — very glad indeed," said I.
The note in a nice lady's hand from Mrs. Martin greeted
us with the assurance that Miss Edgeworth and her Eng-
lish friends should be welcome at Ballinahinch Castle.

576 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [MARCH

Then from our mob another shout ! another heave !
another drag, -and another lift by the spokes of the
wheels. Oh ! if they had broken ! — but they did not,
and we were absolutely out of this slough. I spare you
the next and last, and then we wound round the Lake
Road in the dark, on the edge of Ballinahinch Lake on
Mr. Martin's new road, as our dear giant told us, and I
thought we should never get to the house, but at last we
saw a chimney on fire, at least myriads of sparks and
spouts of flame; but before we reached it, it abated,
and we came to the floor without seeing what manner of
house or castle it might be, till the hall door opened and
a butler — half an angel he appeared to us — appeared
at the door. But then in the midst of our impatience I
was to let down and buckle up these fairy boards ; at
last swinging and slipping it was accomplished, and out
we got, but with my foot still on the step we all called
out to tell the butler we were afraid some chimney was
on fire. Without deigning even to look up at the chim-
ney, he smiled and motioned us the way we should go.
He was as we saw at first view, and found afterwards,
the most imperturbable of men.

And now that we are safely housed, and housed in a
castle too, I will leave you, my dear Pakenham, for the
present.

March 12.

What became of the chimney on fire, I cannot tell —
the Imperturbable was probably right in never minding
it ; he was used to its ways of burning out, and being no
more thought of.

He showed us into a drawing-room, where we saw by
firelight a lady alone — Mrs. Martin, tall and thin, in

18-34] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGE WORTH 577

deep mourning. Though by that light but dimly visible,
and by our eyes, dazed as they were just coming out of
the dark, but imperfectly seen, yet we could not doubt at
first sight that she was a lady in the highest sense of the
word, perfectly a gentlewoman. And her whole manner
of receiving us, and the ease of her motions and of her
conversation, in a few moments convinced me that she
must at some time of her life have been accustomed to
live in the best society — the best society in Ireland ;
for it was evident from her accent that she was a native
— high-life Dublin tone of about forty years ago. The
curls on her forehead, mixed with gray, prematurely
gray, like your mother's, much older than the rest of
her person.

She put us at ease at once, by beginning to talk to us,
as if she was well acquainted with my family — and so
she was from William, who had prepossessed her iri our
favor, yet she did not . then allude to him, though I
could not but understand what she meant to convey —
I liked her.

Then came in, still by firelight, from a door at the
farther end of the room, a young lady, elegantly dressed
in deep mourning. " My daughter — Lady Culling
Smith — Miss Edge worth : " slight figure, head held up
and thrown back. She had the resolution to come to the
very middle of the room and make a deliberate and pro-
found curtsy, which a dancing-master of Paris would
have approved ; seated herself upon the sofa, and seemed
as if she never intended to speak. Mrs. Martin showed
us up to our rooms, begging us not to dress unless we
liked it before dinner ; and we did not like it, for we
were very much tired, and it was now between eight and

578 MAKIA. EDGEWOKTH [MARCH

nine o'clock. Bedchambers spacious. Dinner, we were
told, was ready whenever we pleased, and, well pleased,
down we went : found Mr. Martin in the drawing-room
— a large Connemara gentleman, white, massive face ; a
stoop forward in his neck, the consequence of a shot in
the Peninsular War.

" Well ! will you come to dinner ? Dinner 's ready.
Lady Culling Smith, take my arm ; Sir Culling, Miss
Edgeworth."

A fine large dining-room, and standing at the end of
the table an odd-looking person, below the middle height,
youngish, but the top and back of his head perfectly
bald, like a bird's skull, and at each temple a thick
bunch of carroty red curly hair, thick red whiskers and
light blue eyes, very fair skin and carnation color. He
wore a long green coat, and some abominable colored
thing round his throat, and a look as if he could not
look at you, and would. I wondered what was to become
of this man, and he looked as if he wondered too. But
Mr. Martin, turning abruptly, said, " M'Hugh ! where
are you, man ? M'Hugh, sit down, man, here ! "

And M'Hugh sat down. I afterwards found he was
an essential person in the family : M'Hugh here, M'Hugh
there ; very active, acute, and ready, and bashful, a dare-
devil kind of man, that would ride, and boat, and shoot
in any weather, and would at any moment hazard his
life to save a fellow creature's. Miss Martin sat opposite
to me, and with the light of branches of wax candles full
upon her, I saw that she was very young, about seven-
teen, very fair, hair which might be called red by rivals
and auburn by friends, her eyes blue-gray, prominent,
like pictures I have seen by Leonardo da Vinci.

1834] TO M. PAKENHA.M EDGEWOKTH 579

But Miss Martin must not make me forget the dinner,
and such a dinner ! London bon vivants might have
blessed themselves ! Venison such as Sir Culling de-
clared could not be found in England, except from one
or two immense parks of noblemen favored above their
peers ; salmon, lobsters, oysters, game, all well cooked
and well served, and well placed upon the table : nothing
loaded, all in good taste, as well as to the taste ; wines,
such as I was not worthy of, but Sir Culling knew how
to praise them ; champagne, and all manner of French
wines.

In spite of a very windy night, I slept admirably
well, and wakened with great curiosity to see what man-
ner of place we were in. From the front windows of
my room, which was over the drawing-room, I looked
down a sudden slope to the only trees that could be
seen, far or near, and only on the tops of them. From
the side window a magnificent but desolate prospect of
an immense lake and bare mountains.

When I went down, and to the hall door at which we
had entered the night before, I was surprised to see
neither mountains, lake, nor river — all flat as a pan-
cake — a wild, boundless sort of common, with showers
of stones ; no avenue or regular approach, no human
habitation within view ; and when I walked up the road
and turned to look at the castle, nothing could be less
like a castle. From the drawing I send you (who it was
done by I will tell you by and by), you would imagine
it a real castle, bosomed high in trees. Such flatterers
as those portrait-painters of places are ! And yet it is
all true enough, if you see it from the right point of
view. Much I wished to see more of the inhabitants

580 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [MARCH

of this castle, but we were to pursue our way to Clifden
this day ; and with these thoughts balancing in my
mind of wish to stay, and ought to go, I went to break-
fast — coffee, tea, hot rolls, ham, all luxuries.

Isabella did not make her appearance, but this I
accounted for by her having been much tired. She had
complained of rheumatic pains, but I had thought no
more about them. Little was I aware of all that was
to be. " L'homme propose : Dieu dispose." Lady Cull-
ing Smith at last appeared, hobbling, looking in torture,
leaning on her husband's arm, and trying to smile on our
hospitable hosts, all standing up to receive her. Never
did I see a human creature in the course of one night so
changed. When she was to sit down, it was impossible :
she could not bend her knees, and fell back in Sir Cull-
ing's arms. He was excessively frightened. His large
powerful host carried her upstairs, and she was put to
bed by her thin, scared-looking, but excellent and help-
ful maid ; and this was the beginning of an illness which
lasted above three weeks. Little did we think, how-
ever, at the beginning, how bad it would be. We
thought it only rheumatism, and I wrote to Honora that
we should be detained a few days longer — from day to
day put off. Lady Culling Smith grew alarmingly ill.
There was only one half-fledged doctor at Clifden : the
Martins disliked him, but he was sent for, and a puppy
he proved, thinking of nothing but his own shirt-buttons
and fine curled hair. Isabella grew worse and worse —
fainting fits ; and Mrs. and Miss Martin, both accus-
tomed to prescribe for the country people in want of all
medical advice in these lone regions, went to their phar-
macopoeias and medicine-chest, and prescribed various

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWOETH 581

strong remedies, and ran up and down stairs, but could
not settle what the patient's disease was, whether gout
or rheumatism ; and these required quite different treat-
ment : hands and lips were swelled and inflamed, but
not enough to say it was positively gout, then there was
fear of drawing the gout to the stomach, and if it was
not gout ! All was terror and confusion ; and poor Sir
Culling, excessively fond of Isabella, stood in tears be-
side her bed. He had sat up two nights with her, and
was now seized with asthmatic spasms himself in his
chest. It was one of the worst nights you can imagine,
blowing a storm and raining cats and dogs. Mr. and
Mrs. Martin and Sir Culling thought Lady Smith so
dangerously ill that it was necessary to send a man on
horseback thirty miles to Outerard for a physician : and
who could be sent such a night ? one of the Gal way pos-
tilions on one of the post-horses (you will understand
that we were obliged to keep these horses and postilions
at Ballinahinch, as no other horses could be procured).
The postilion was to be knocked up, and Sir Culling
and Mr. Martin went to some den to waken him.

Meanwhile I was standing alone, very sorrowful, on
the hearth in the great drawing-room, waiting to hear
how it could be managed, when in came Mr. M'Hugh,
and coming quite close up to me, said, " Them Gal way
boys will not know the way across the bogs as I should :
I 'd be at Outerard in half the time. I '11 go, if they '11
let me, and with all the pleasure in life."

" Such a night as this ! Oh, no, Mr. M'Hugh ! "
" Oh, yes ; why not ? " said he. And this good-
hearted, wild creature would have gone that instant, if
we would have let him !

582 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

However, we would not, and he gave instructions to
the Galway boy how to keep clear of the sloughs and bog-
holes ; observing to me that " them stranger horses are
good for little in Connemara — nothing like a Connemara
pony for that ! " As Ulick Burke said, " The ponies are
such knowing little creatures, when they come to a
slough they know they 'd sink in, and their legs of no
use to them, they lie down till the men that can stand
drag them over with their legs kneeling under them."

The Galway boy got safe to Outerard, and next morn-
ing brought back Dr. Davis, a very clever, agreeable
man, who had had a great deal of experience, having
begun life as an army surgeon : at any rate, he was not
thinking of himself, but of his patient. He thought
Isabella dangerously ill — unsettled gout. I will not
tire you with all the history of her illness, and all our
terrors ; but never would I have left home on this odd
journey if I could have foreseen this illness. I cannot
give you an idea of my loneliness of feeling, my utter
helplessness, from the impossibility of having the ad-
vantage of the sympathy and sense of any of my own
family. We had not, for one whole week, the comfort
of even any one letter from any of our distant friends.
We had expected to be by this time at Castlebar, and
we had desired Honora to direct our letters there. Sir
Culling with great spirit sent a Connemara messenger
fifty miles to Castlebar for the letters, and when he
came back he brought but one !

No mail-coach road comes near here : no man on
horseback could undertake to carry the letters regularly.
They are carried three times a week from Outerard to
Clifden, thirty-six miles, by three gossoons, or more

3834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWOKTH 583

properly bog-trotters, and very hard work it is for them.
One runs a day and a night, and then sleeps a day and a
night, and then another takes his turn ; and each of
these boys has £15 a year. I remember seeing one
of these postboys leaving Ballinahinch Castle, with his
leather bag on his back, across the heath and across the
bog, leaping every now and then, and running so fast !
his bare, white legs thrown up among the brown heath.
These postboys were persons of the greatest consequence
to us : they brought us news from home, and to poor
Lady Culling Smith accounts of her baby, and of her
friends in England. We began to think we should never
see any of them again.

I cannot with sufficient gratitude describe to you the
hospitality and unvaried kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Martin
during all these trials. Mr. Martin, rough man as he
seemed outside, was all soft and tender within, and so
very considerate for the English servants. Mrs. Martin
told me tbat he said to her, " I am afraid that English
man and maid must be very uncomfortable here — so
many things to which they have been used, which we
have not for them ! Now we have no beer, you know,
my dear, and English servants are always used to beer."
So Mr. Martin gave them cider instead, and every day he
took to each of them himself a glass of excellent port
wine ; and to Isabella, as gout cordial, he gave Bronte,
the finest, Sir Culling said, he ever tasted. And never
all the time did Mr. and Mrs. Martin omit anything it
was in their power to do to make us comfortable, and to
relieve us from the dreadful feeling of being burdensome
and horrible intruders ! They did succeed in putting me
completely at ease, as far. as they were concerned. I do

584 MARIA EDGEWOETH [MARCH

not think I could have got through all the anxiety I felt
during Lady Culling Smith's illness, and away from all
my own people, and waiting so shockingly long for let-
ters, if it had not been for the kindness of Mrs. Martin,
and the great fondness I soon felt for her. She is not
literary ; she is very religious — what would be called
very good, and yet she suited me, and I grew very
fond of her, and she of me. Little things that I could
feel better than describe inclined me to her, and our
minds were open to one another from the first day.
Once, towards the end, I believe, of the first week, when
I began some sentence with an apology for some liberty
I was taking, she put her hand upon my arm, and with
a kind, reproachful look exclaimed, " Liberty ! I thought
we were past that long since : are not we ? "

She told me that she had actually been brought up
with a feeling of reverence for my father, and particu-
larly for me, by a near relation of hers, old Mr. Kirwan,
the President of the Royal Irish Academy, who was a
great friend of my father's and puffer of me in early
days. Then her acquaintance afterwards with Mr.
Nimmo carried on the connection. She told me he
showed her that copy of " Harry and Lucy " which
you had in making the index, and showed her the
bridge which he helped me over when Harry was build-
ing it. But what touched and won me first and most
in Mrs. Martin was the manner in which she spoke of
William — her true feeling for his character. " When-
ever he could get me alone," she said, " he would talk
to me of Honora or Mrs. Edgeworth and his Aunt Mary
and you."

Some of the expressions she repeated I could not but

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 585

feel sure were his, and they were so affectionate towards
me, I was much touched. Too besides Mrs. Martin
made herself very agreeable by her quantity of anec-
dotes, and her knowledge of the people with whom she
had lived in her youth, of whom she could, with great
ability and admirable composed drollery, give the most
characteristic traits.

Miss Martin — though few books beyond an " Edin-
burgh " or " Quarterly Review " or two appeared in the
sitting-room — has books in quantities in a closet in her
own room, which is within her mother's ; and " every
morning," said Mrs. Martin, " she comes in to me while
I am dressing, and pours out upon me an inundation of
learning, fresh and fresh, all she has been reading for
hours before I am up. Mary has read prodigiously."

I found Mary one of the most extraordinary persons
I ever saw. Her acquirements are indeed prodigious :
she has more knowledge of books, both scientific and
learned, than any female creature I ever saw or heard of
at her age — heraldry, metaphysics, painting and painters'
lives, and tactics ; she had a course of fortification from
a French officer, and of engineering from Mr. Nimmo.
She understands Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and I don't
know how many modern languages. French she speaks
perfectly, learned from the French officer who taught
her fortification, M. du Bois, who was one of Buona-
parte's Legion of Honor, and, when the Emperor was
ousted, fled from France, and earned his bread at Bal-
linahinch by teaching French, which Miss Martin talks
as if she had been a native, but not as if she had been
in good Parisian society ; with an odd mixture of a ton
de garnison which might be expected from a pupil of

586 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

one of Buonaparte's officers. She imbibed from him
such an admiration, such an enthusiasm for Buonaparte,
that she cannot bear a word said to his disparagement ;
and when Sir Culling sometimes offended in that way,
Miss Martin's face and neck grew carnation color, and
down to the tips of her fingers she blushed with indig-
nation.

Her father the while smiled and winked at me. The
father as well as the mother dote upon her ; and he has
a softened way of always calling her " my child " that
interested me for both. " My child, never mind ; what
signifies about Buonaparte ? "

One morning we went with Miss Martin to see the
fine green Connemara marble-quarries. Several of the
common people gathered round while we were looking
at the huge blocks : these people Miss Martin called her
tail. Sir Culling wished to obtain an answer to a
question from some of these people, which he desired
Miss Martin to ask for him, being conscious that, in his
English tone, it would be unintelligible. When the
question had been put and answered, Sir Culling ob-
jected : " But, Miss Martin, you did not put the ques-
tion exactly as I requested you to state it."

"No," said she, with color raised and head thrown
back, " no, because I knew how to put it so that people
could understand it. Je sais mon metier de reine."

This trait gives you an idea of her character and man-
ner, and of the astonishment of Sir Culling at her want
of sympathy with his really liberal and philanthropic
views for Ireland, while she is full of her tail, her
father's fifty-miles-long avenue, and ^schylus and Eurip-
ides, in which she is admirably well read. Do think

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 587

of a girl of seventeen, in the wilds of Connemara, inti-
mately acquainted with all the beauties of JSschylus and
Euripides, and having them as part of her daily thoughts !

There are immense caves on this coast which were the
free-traders' resort, and would have been worth any
money to Sir Walter. " Quite a scene and a country
for him," as Miss Martin one day observed to me ;
" don't you think your friend Sir Walter Scott would
have liked our people and our country ? "

It is not exactly a feudal state, but the tail of a
feudal state. Dick Martin, father of the present man,
was not only lord of all he surveyed, but lord of all the
lives of the people : now the laws of the land have come
in, and rival proprietors have sprung up in rival castles.
Hundreds would still, I am sure, start out of their bogs
for Mr. Martin, but he is called Mister, and the prestige
is over. The people in Connemara were all very quiet
and submissive till some refugee Terry-alts took asylum
in these bog and mountain fastnesses. They spread
their principles, and soon the clan combined against
their chief, and formed a plan of seizing Ballinahinch
Castle, and driving him and all the Protestant gentry
out of the country. Mr. Martin is a man of desperate
courage, some skill as an officer, and prodigious bodily
strength, which altogether stood him in stead in time of
great danger. I cannot tell you the whole long story,
but I will mention one anecdote which will show you
how like the stories in Walter Scott are the scenes that
have been lately passing in Connemara. Mr. Martin
summoned one of his own followers, who had, he knew,
joined the Terry -alts, to give up a gun lent to him in
days of trust and favor : no answer to the summons.

588 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

A second, a third summons : no effect. Mr. Martin
then warned the man that if he did not produce the
gun at the next sessions he would come and seize it.
The man appeared at the house where Mr. Martin holds
his sessions — about the size of Lo veil's schoolroom, and
always fuller than it can hold : Mr. Martin espied from
his end of the room his friend with the gun, a power-
fully strong man, who held his way on, and stood full
before him.

" You sent for my gun, your honor, did you ? "

" I did — three times ; it is well you have brought it
at last ; give it to me."

The man kneeled down on one knee, and putting the
gun across the other knee, broke it asunder, and throwing
the pieces to Mr. Martin, cried, " There it is for you. I
swore that was the only way you should ever have it,
dead or alive. You have warned me, and now I warn
you ; take care of yourself."

He strode out of the crowd. But he was afterwards
convicted of Terry-alt practices and transported. Now
all is perfectly quiet, and Mr. Martin goes on doing
justice in his own peculiar fashion every week. When
the noise, heat, and crowd in his sessions court become
beyond all bearing, he roars with his stentorian voice to
clear the court ; and if that be not done forthwith, he
with his own two Herculean arms seizes the loudest two
disputants, knocks their heads together, thrusts them
bawling as they go out of the door, and flings them
asunder.

In his own house there never was a more gentle,
hospitable, good-natured man, I must say again and
again, or else I should be a very ungrateful woman.

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 589

Miss Martin has three ponies, which she has brought
every day to the great Wyatt window of the library,
where she feeds them with potatoes. One of them is
very passionate ; and once, the potato being withheld a
moment too long at the hall door, he fell into a rage,
pushed in at the door after her, and she ran for her life,
got upstairs, and was safe.

I asked what he would have done if he had come up
to her.

" Set his two feet on my shoulders, thrown me down,
and trampled upon me."

The other day the smith hurt his foot in shoeing him,
and up he reared, and up jumped the smith on the
raised part of his forge; the pony jumped after him,
and, if the smith had not scrambled behind his bellows,
"would have killed him to be sure."

After hearing this I declined riding this pony, though
Miss Martin pressed me much, and assured me he was as
quiet as a lamb — provided I would never strike him or
look cross. Once she got me up on his back, but I
looked so miserable, she took me down again. She
described to me her nursing of one of these ponies ; " he
used to stand with his head over my shoulder while I
rubbed his nose for an hour together ; but I suppose
I must throw off these Bedouin habits before I go to
London."

They are now spending the season in town. I had an
opportunity of seeing her perfect freedom from coquetry
in company with a Mr. Smith — no relation of Sir
Culling' s — a very handsome fine gentleman who came
here unexpectedly.

All this time poor Isabella has been left by me in

590 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [MARCH

torture in her bed. At the end of three weeks she was
pronounced out of danger, and in spite of the kind re-
monstrances of our hospitable hosts, not tired of the sick
or the well, on a very wet odious day away we went.
As there are no inns or place where an invalid could
pass the night, I wrote to beg a night's lodging at
Renvyle, Mr. Blake's. He and Mrs. Blake, who wrote
" Letters from the Irish Highlands," were not at home,
— in Galway on a visit, — but they answered most po-
litely that they begged me to consider their house as my
own, and wrote to their agent, who was at Renvyle, to
receive us.

Captain Bushby, of the Water Guard — married to a
niece of Joanna Baillie's — was very kind in accompany-
ing us on our first day's journey. " I must see you safe
out" said he. " Safe out " is the common elision for
safe out of Connemara. And really it was no easy
matter to get us safe out ; but I spare you a repetition
of sloughs ; we safely reached Eenvyle, where the agent
received us in a most comfortable, well-furnished, well-
carpeted, well-lighted library, filled with books — ex-
cellent dining-room beyond ; and here Lady Smith had a
day's rest, without which she could not have proceeded ;
and well for her she had such a comfortable resting-
place.

Next day we got into Joyce's Country and had hot
potatoes and cold milk, and Renvyle cold fowl at The
Lodge, as it is styled, of Big Jacky Joyce — one of the
descendants of the ancient proprietors, and quite an
original Irish character. He had heard my name often,
he said, from Mr. Nimmo, and knew I was a writing-
lady, and a friend to Ireland, and he was civil to me,

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGE WORTH 591

and I was civil to him, and after eying Sir Culling and
Lady Smith, and thinking, I saw, that she was affecting
to be languishing, and then perceiving that she was really
weak and ill, he became cordial to the whole party, and
entertained us for two hours, which we were obliged to
wait for the going out of the tide before we could cross
the sands. Here was an arm of the sea, across which
Mr. Nimmo had been employed to build a bridge, and
against Big Jack Joyce's advice he would build it where
Jack prophesied it would be swept away in the winter,
and twice the bridge was built, and twice it was swept
away, and still Niinmo said it was the fault of the
masons ; the embankment and his theory could not be
wrong, and a third time he built the bridge, and there
we saw the ruins of it on the sands — all the embank-
ments swept away and all we had for it was to be
dragged over the sand by men — the horses taken off.
We were pushed down into a gully-hole five feet deep,
and thence pulled up again ; how it was I cannot tell
you, for I shut my eyes and resigned myself, gave up
my soul and was much surprised to find it in my body
at the end of the operation : Big Jacky Joyce and his
merry men having somehow managed it.

There was an end of our perils by gullies, sloughs,
and bog-holes. We now got on Mr. Nimmo's and Mr.
Killalla's really good roads, and now our four horses
began to tell, and that night we reached Westport, and
in consequence of Mrs. Martin's introduction to her
friend Lord Sligo were received by him and Lady Sligo
most courteously.

Westport is a beautiful place, with a town, a port,
industrious people all happy, and made so by the sense

592 MARIA EDGEWOETH [MARCH

and energy of a good landlord and a good agent. We
regretted that we could stay only this night and the next
morning to breakfast ; it was so delightful and extraor-
dinary to us again to see trees and shrubberies, and to
find ourselves again in the midst of flowers from green-
house and conservatory. Isabella said she was so
delighted, she could hardly forbear, with her crippled,
gouty hands, embracing every tree she met. Lord Sligo,
himself a martyr to the gout, and with a son at Eton
just then attacked with gout, had great compassion for
her : he and all his family high bred and cordial.

The next morning we pursued our journey, and at
the next stage came upon a real mail-coach road, where
we had post-horses again, and dismissed our Galway
horses. This night brought us to Lough Glyn, where
Mr. Strickland received us very kindly, and we had the
joy of finding letters waiting for us from home ; but we
found that the cholera had been for the last ten days
killing the poor people at Edgeworthstown — Condy
Keegan's son-in-law, M'Glaughlin the carpenter, and a
great many more. How dreadfully anxious Honora
must have been with the charge of baby, and this cholera
close to our gates !

The last day's journey was the longest of all, from
the suspense, though all was smooth upon the road.
When we saw the lights in the windows at home, you
may guess how our hearts went pit-a-pat. We found all
well ; and glad we all were to meet again, and to have
Isabella safe with her child : not in her arms, poor
crippled creature — it was not possible for her to hold
the infant ; she could but just hobble about, and was a
quarter of an hour going up stairs. Aunt Mary and

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 593

Honora, after all the warnings my letters had given,
were surprised and shocked at the first sight of her.
For ten days after her arrival, she was unable to travel,
impatient as they both were to be at home again. They
did reach it, baby and all, safely at last, and you may
imagine how relieved we were when we heard of her
being safe with her own family again, and with London
physicians : five months since then, and she is not yet
quite reestablished. We feel now how very serious her
illness was.

But now that it is all over, and I can balance pains
and pleasures, I declare that, upon the whole, I had
more pleasure than pain from this journey ; the perils of
the road were far overbalanced by the diversion of seeing
the people, and the seeing so many to me perfectly new
characters and modes of living. The anxiety of Isa-
bella's illness, terrible as it was, and the fear of being
ill myself and a burden upon their hands, and even the
horrid sense of remoteness and impossibility of com-
munication with my own friends, were altogether over-
balanced by the extraordinary kindness, and tenderness,
and generous hospitality of the Martins. It will do my
heart good all the days of my life to have experienced
such kindness, and to have seen so much good in human
nature as I saw with them — red M'Hugh included. I
am sure I have a friend in Mrs. Martin ; it is an extraor-
dinary odd feeling to have made a friend at sixty-six
years of age ! You, my dear young Pakenham, can't
understand this ; but you will live, I hope, to under-
stand it, and perhaps to say, "Now I begin to compre-
hend what Maria, poor old soul ! meant by that odd
feeling at the end of her Connemara journey."

594 MAKIA EDGEWOETH [MAKCH

When we were regretting to Lord Sligo that we had
missed seeing so many persons and places on our tour
whom we had at first setting out made it our object to
see — Clifden, the barony of Erris, and the wonderful
Major Bingham — Lord Sligo comforted us by saying,
" Depend upon it, you have seen more really of Conne-
mara than any strangers who have ever traveled through
it, exactly because you remained in one place and in one
family, where you had time to see the habits of the
people, and to see them nearly and familiarly, and with-
out their being shown off, or thinking of showing them-
selves off to you."

March 29.

I have been so busy at rents and odious accounts, that
I have never been able to go on to you. Your mother
returned home a few days ago, after seven months'
absence ! You may guess how happy we were to have
her again, and how we have been talking and hearing.
Lucy bore the parting with her wonderfully well;
indeed, she was anxious that her mother should return
to us.

Young Walter — now Sir Walter — Scott has been
quartered at Longford, and is now going to Dublin : he
dined here on Saturday, and was just the same as when
we saw him in 1825. Sophy and her three children
round her must have surprised him not a little.1 It is a
pity Maxwell was not in the group. Little fair-haired
Willy, nothing daunted by the nearly seven-feet high
major in full uniform, marched up to him and patted his
knee, and in return the major patted his head. His soft

1 Mrs. Fox, as Sophy Edgeworth, had been with her sister at Abbots-
ford in 1823.

1834] TO M. PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 595

Scotch voice, and often the kind and playful turns in his
conversation, reminded me both pleasurably and pain-
fully of his father. Sophy wished that her children
should hear the hand of the regiment, and he promised
that he would halt at Tuite's gate, as a select party with
the band were to go by Castle Pollard ; and this morn-
ing, when I opened my eyes, I saw it was snowing so
bitterly, I gave up all hopes of our being able to take
the children to hear the band ; but between seven, when
I wakened, and half after nine, the appointed hour,
many changes of the sky took place, and at the right
moment the sun shone out, the clouds blew over the
beech-trees, and Sophy was drawn in Willy Waller's
little carriage, with him in her lap ; Honora, Mary
Anne, Charlotte, and I accompanying. We had to wait
some time, and went into what you would call Tuite's
house, but it is now Jem Newman's ; and there was his
nice little wife, with her mouth full of the last potato
she had eaten for breakfast ; and she put away the half-
full potato-basket, and the boy with his can of milk
retreated from the stool by the fire, and she welcomed
us with Irish heart's welcome in lip and eye ; and the
children were delighted watching the pig and the
chickens feeding at the door.

At last the music was heard, and very pretty it was,
and mother and children were happy ; and Sir Walter
stopped on his fine gray horse, and said, "You see, I
have kept my word," and then galloped off. A sergeant
then came up to me with a slip of paper in his hand,
saying, "Can you read write?" I said I believed I
could, and made out for him the route to Castle Pollard :
the sound of the music died away, and we returned to

596 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

breakfast. " Sire, il n'y a de circonstance oh on ne
prend pas de ddjeuner," as the man said to Buonaparte.

You will have seen in the newspapers the court-mar-
tial about Lord Brudenell and the 15th Hussars : Lord
Forbes, in giving me an account of the matter, said,
" Walter Scott, by his conduct, and the way in which he
gave his testimony, covered himself with glory," — told
the truth like a man and a gentleman.

You may have also seen mentioned the murder of
Captain Skyring, of the .<Etna, of which Henry Beddoes
was second lieutenant, off the coast of Africa. He
wrote a few lines to Fanny after the catastrophe ; hap-
pily for him he was kept by some duty on board. It
was imprudent of Captain Skyring to attempt to land,
and take observations, without having his ship near
enough to defend him. The natives, all with arms,
came round him, and began by stealing everything they
could lay their hands on. Captain Skyring drew a
circle round his circle, forbidding the thieves to pass it ;
but they passed it, and one was seizing the instrument
in his hand, when the captain fired and killed the man ;
and then they all fell upon him, stabbed him with their
pikes and knives, stripped the body, and left it with
seventeen wounds. Our people afterwards got it back.
We know no more as yet, but that Captain Beaufort was
extremely shocked and grieved.

I have no domestic occurrence to tell you, except that
a robin, who for several seasons has frequented this house,
and Lucy's room particularly, has this spring grown so
familiar that he began to build his nest in Lucy's old
bonnet, laid a great heap of leaves in it, which we used
to see him bringing in his bill, the leaves often as large

1834] TO C. SNEYD EDGEWORTH 597

as his body. Yesterday morning Betty the housemaid
said to your mother, " Ma'am, when I opened the hall
door this morning, the robin flew in over my head, and
knowing his way wherever he wanted to go through the
doors, just as if he was master of the house, ma'am !
And he sits down before a door, and looks to have it
opened for him." Dear little impudent fellow ! This
packet concludes my chronicle of Connemara.

TO C. SNEYD EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 14, 1834.

Having now done with business I may turn to a little
pleasure ; a great deal you have given me, my dear Sneyd,
by your friend Mr. Smedley's approbation of " Helen."
His polite playful allusion to the names of the horses,
which names at this moment I forget, reminds me of a
similar touch of the Duchess of Wellington in describing
one of the Duke's battles, she quoted from the " Knap-
sack," " Let the sugar basin be my master."

I have written to Fanny about Lady Charlotte Fitz-
gerald's death. I was very much shocked at it : I loved
her ; she was one of my earliest friends — " Leaf by leaf
drops away."

TO MISS RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 22, 1834.

With all my heart I congratulate you on being in
possession of your cottage.1 Harriet Butler told us how
happy the people of Black Castle and Navan were, when
they heard you were coming to live amongst them again.

i Dnninoe Cottage, at the end of the Black Castle demesne, about
two miles from the house.

598 MARIA EDGE/WORTH

You are now as busy as possible arranging your things
and considering how all and each of your friends will like
what you do, and I am — very conceited — sure that you
often think of Maria among the number, and that you
have even already thought of a footstool for her. Em-
meline has, by the bye, invented and executed, and given
to my mother, the most ingenious footstool I ever saw,
which folds up and can be put into a work-bag. She
has also sent the nicest, most agreeable presents to the
little Foxes — a kaleidoscope, a little watering-pot, and
a pair of little tin scales with weights ; they set about
directly weighing everything that could be put into them,
ending with sugar-plums and sugar-candy.

We have been much amused with " The Kuzzilbash "
and by " Bubbles from the Brunnen," by Captain Head.

TO MISS RFXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, July 29, 1834.

I cannot, my dear Lady of Dunmoe, tell when I can
be with you ; go I will before autumn runs away with all
your leaves, but I am afraid I must let autumn turn
them of a sober hue, though I will not let it go to the
sear and yellow. In plain prose I am tied down now
by rents and business.

We have been dining at Mrs. Blackall's, and there met
her pretty sister, Mrs. Johnstone, and very intelligent
Captain Johnstone, a Berkshire man from near Hare
Hatch, and had a very agreeable day, and much conver-
sation on books and authors, and found that the " Diary
of an Ennuyde " and " Female Characters of Shake-
speare," both very clever books, are by a lady who was
governess to Mrs. Blackall and her sisters. Mrs. Rolle,

1834] TO MISS RUXTON 599

her mother, read the " Diary of an Ennuye'e," and won-
dered when she saw " Mr. and Mrs. E.," and all the
places and people they had seen abroad, till she came to
the name of Laura, and some lines to her by which she
discovered that the author must be their former gov-
erness, Miss Murphy, now married to a very clever
lawyer.1 All the woes and heart-breakings are mere
fable in the "Diary." Her last book, "Visits and
Sketches at Home and Abroad," I like ; there is a great
deal of thought and feeling in it.

Miss Edgeworth's "Helen" would never have been
finished but for the encouragement shown by her sister
Harriet, and her interest in the story. It is more of a
" novel " than any of its predecessors, has more imagina-
tion, and its interest centres more around one person.
Its object is to show how many of the troubles of social
life arise from want of absolute truthfulness. Its prin-
ciple is depicted in the explanation of one of its charac-
ters : "I wish that the word Jib was out of the English
language, and white lie drummed after it. Things by
their right names, and we should all do much better.
Truth must be told, whether agreeable or not."

" Helen " was well received by the public, but Miss
Edgeworth had great diffidence about it. To Dr. Hol-
land she wrote : —

I am very glad that you have been pleased with

" Helen " — far above my expectations ! and I thank

you for that warmth of kindness with which you enter

into all the details of the characters and plan of the

1 Mrs. Jameson.

600 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

story. Nothing but regard for the author could have
made you give so much importance to my tale. It has
always been my fault to let the moral I had in view
appear too soon and too clearly, and I am not surprised
that my old fault, notwithstanding some pains which I
certainly thought I took to correct it, should still abide
by me.

TO MRS. STARK.1

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, September 6, 1834.

Some of my friends, knowing the timidity, not to say
cowardice, of my nature, have feared that I should be
daunted by Colonel Stewart's most just observations
upon the defects and deficiencies of my past manner and
principles of novel-writing ; but, on the contrary, I, who
know myself better, feel that, in spite of my timidity,
I am, instead of being daunted, encouraged by such criti-
cism. Such a writer and such a noble mind as Colonel
Stewart's having bestowed so much thought and time
upon me and my fictions, raises both them and myself
in my own opinion far more than could the largest
" draught of unqualified praise " 2 from any common
critic. From feeling that he does justice in many points
to the past, I rely upon his prophecies as to the future,
and I feel my ambition strongly excited by his belief
that I CAN, and his prognostic that I shall do better
hereafter. Boileau says, " Trust a critic who puts his
finger at once upon what you know to be your infirm
part." I had often thought and said to myself some of

1 Who had sent Miss Edgeworth a long criticism from her cousin,
Colonel Matthew Stewart (son of Dugald Stewart), on her Helen.

2 Quoted from Mr. Croker, who said that nothing ever satisfied an
author, but large draughts of unqualified praise.

1834] TO MRS. STARK 601

those things which Colonel Stewart has written, but
never so strongly expressed, so fully brought home ; my
own rod of feathers did not do my business. I had often
and often a suspicion that my manner was too Dutch, too
minute ; and very, very often, and warmly, admired the
bold, grand style of the master-hand and master-genius.
I know I feel how much more is to be done, ought to be
done, by suggestion than by delineation, by creative
fancy than by facsimile copying, — how much more by
skillful selection and fresh and consistent combination —
than can be effected by the most acute observation of
individuals, or diligent accumulation of particulars.

But where I have erred or fallen short of what it is
thought I might have done, it has not been from " draw-
ing from the life, or from individuals, or from putting
together actions or sayings noted in commonplace books
from observation or hearsay in society." I have seldom
or ever drawn any one character — certainly not any
ridiculous or faulty character, from any individual.
Wherever, in writing, a real character rose to my view,
from memory or resemblance, it has always been hurtful
to me, because, to avoid that resemblance, I was tempted
by cowardice or compelled by conscience to throw in
differences, which often ended in making my character
inconsistent, unreal.

At the hazard of talking too much of myself, which
people usually do when once they begin, I must tell my
penetrating critic exactly the facts, as far as I know
them, about my habits of composition. He will at least
see, by my throwing open my mind thus, that he has not
made me afraid of him, but has won my confidence, and
made me look for his future sympathy and assistance. I

602 MARIA EDGEWOKTH [SEPT.

have no vast magazine of a commonplace book." In
my whole life, since I began to write, which is now, I am
concerned to state, upwards of forty years, I have had
only about half a dozen little note-books, strangely and
irregularly kept, sometimes with only words of reference
to some book, or fact I could not bring accurately to
mind. At first I was much urged by my father to note
down remarkable traits of character or incidents, which
he thought might be introduced in stories ; and he often
blamed that idleness or laziness, as he thought it in me,
which resisted his urgency. But I was averse to noting
down, because I was conscious that it did better for me
to keep the things in my head, if they suited my pur-
pose ; and if they did not, they would only encumber
me. I knew that, when I wrote down, I put the thing
out of my care, out of my head; and that, though it
might be put by very safe, I should not know where to
look for it ; that the labor of looking over a note-book
would never do when I was in the warmth and pleasure of
inventing ; that I should never recollect the facts or ideas
at the right time, if I did not put them up in my own way
in my own head : that is, if I felt with hope or pleasure
" that thought or that fact will be useful to me in such a
character or story, of which I have now a first idea, the
same fact or thought would recur, I knew, when I wanted
it, in right order for invention." In short, as Colonel
Stewart guessed, the process of combination, generaliza-
tion, invention, was carried on always in my head best.
Wherever I brought in bodily unaltered, as I have some-
times done, facts from real life, or sayings, or recorded
observations of my own, I have almost always found
them objected to by good critics as unsuited to the

1834] TO MES. STARK 603

character, or in some way de trap. Sometimes, when
the first idea of a character was taken from life from
some ORIGINAL, and the characteristic facts noted down,
or even noted only in my head, I have found it necessary
entirely to alter these, not only from propriety, to avoid
individual resemblance, but from the sense that the
character would be only an EXCEPTION to general feeling
and experience, not a rule. In short, exactly what
Colonel Stewart says about " the conical hills " being the
worst subjects for painters. As an instance I may
mention King Corny, who is, I believe, considered more
of a fancy piece, more as a romantic character than my
usual common-life Dutch figures ; the first idea of him
was taken from the facts I heard of an oddity, a man, I
believe, like no other, who lived in a remote part of Ire-
land, an ingenious despot in his own family, who blasted
out of the rock on which his house was built half a
kitchen, while he and family and guests were living
in the house ; who was so passionate, that children,
grown-up sons, servants and all, ran out of the house at
once when he fell into a passion with his own tangled
hair ; a man who used, in his impatience and rages, to
call at the head of the kitchen stairs to his servants,
" Drop whatever you have in your hand, and come here

and be d d ! " He was generous and kind-hearted,

but despotic, and conceited to the most ludicrous degree ;
for instance, he thought he could work gobelin tapestry
and play on the harp or mandolin better than any one
living.

One after another, in working out King Corny, from
the first wrong hint I was obliged to give up every fact,
except that he propped up the roof of his house and

604 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

built downwards, and to generalize all ; to make him a
man of expedients, of ingenious substitutes, such as any
clever Irishman in middle life is used to. I was obliged
to retain, but soften, the despotism, and exalt the gener-
osity, to make it a character that would interest. Not
one word I ever heard said by the living man, or had
ever heard repeated of his saying, except " Drop what
you have," etc., went into my King Corny's mouth —
would not have suited him. I was obliged to make him
according to the general standard of wit and acuteness,
shrewd humor and sarcasm, of that class of unread natu-
ral geniuses, an overmatch for Sir Ulick, who is of a
more cultivated class of acute and roguish Irish gentle-
men. Colonel Stewart sees from this how far he has
guessed rightly as to several points, but I think I have
always aimed more at making my characters representa-
tives of classes than he conceives. It is plain that I
have not attained my aim.

I never could use notes in writing dialogues ; it would
have been as impossible to me to get in the prepared
good things at the right moment in the warmth of writ-
ing conversation, as it would be to lug them in in real
conversation, perhaps more so — for I could not write
dialogues at all without being at the time fully impressed
with the characters, imagining myself each speaker, and
that too fully engrosses the imagination to leave time for
consulting note-books ; the whole fairy vision would
melt away, and the warmth and the pleasure of invention
be gone. I might often, while writing, recollect from
books or life what would suit, and often from note-
book ; but then I could not stop to look, and often quoted
therefore inaccurately. I have a quick recollective

1834] TO MRS. STARK 605

memory and retentive for the sort of things I particularly
want ; they will recur to me at the moment I want them
years and years after they have lain dormant, but alas !
my memory is inaccurate, has hold of the object only by
one side — the side or face that struck my imagination,
and if I want more afterwards I do not know even where
to look for it. I mention this because Dugald Stewart
once was curious to know what sort of memory I had,
whether recollective or retentive.

I understand what Colonel Stewart so admirably says
about parable, apologue, and fables being general truths
and morals which cannot be conveyed or depended upon
equally when we come to modern novels, where Lady
B. or Lord D. are not universal characters like Fox
or Goose. I acknowledge that even a perfectly true
character absolutely taken as a facsimile from real life
would not be interesting in a fiction, might not be be-
lieved, and could not be useful. The value of these
odd characters depends, I acknowledge, upon their being
actually known to be true. In history, extraordinary
characters always interest us with all their inconsisten-
cies, feeling we thus add to our actual knowledge of
human nature. In fiction we have not this conviction,
and therefore not this sort or source of pleasure even if
ever so well done ; if it be quite a new inconsistency we
feel doubtful and averse ; but we submit when we know
it is true : we say, " don't therefore tell me it is not in
human nature."

I am not sure that I agree with Colonel Stewart about
particular morals to stories, but this point might lead to
long and intricate discussion.

I feel and admire all he says so eloquently, I am sure

606 MARIA EDGEWORTH [SEPT.

from his own heart, touching the advantage of raising
the standard of our moral ambition, and the higher this
standard can be raised by works of fiction the better. I
feel and understand how many poets and novelists have
raised in the mind that sort of enthusiasm which exalts
and purifies the soul. Happy and gifted with heaven's
best gift must be the poet, the inventor of any sort of
fiction that can raise this enthusiasm. I recollect Mrs.
Barbauld's lines describing —

" Generous youth that feeds
On pictured tales of vast heroic deeds."

How I wish I could furnish, as Scott has, some of those
pictured tales colored to the life ; but I fear I have not
that power, therefore it is perhaps that I strive to con-
sole myself for my deficiencies by flattering myself that
there is much, though not such glorious use, in my own
lesser manner and department. The great virtues, the
great vices, excite strong enthusiasm, vehement horror,
but after all it is not so necessary to warn the generality
of mankind against these, either by precept or example,
as against the lesser faults ; we are all sufficiently aware
that we must not break the commandments, and the rea-
sons against all vices, all feel even to the force of demon-
stration, but demonstration does not need and cannot
receive additional force from fiction. The Old Bailey
trials, " Les Causes Celebres," come with more force as
with the force of actual truth, than can any of the finest
fictions producing what Colonel Stewart calls " momen-
tary belief in the reality of a fictitious character or event."
Few readers do or can put themselves in the places of
great criminals, or fear to yield to such and such tempta-
tions ; they know that they cannot fall to the depth of

1834] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 607

evil at once, and they have no sympathy, no fear ; their
spirits are not " put in the act of falling." But show
them the steep path, the little declivity at first, the step
by step downwards, and they tremble. Show them the
postern gates or little breaches in their citadel of virtue,
and they fly to guard these ; in short, show to them
their own little faults which may lead on to the greatest,
and they shudder; that is, if this be done with truth
and brought home to their consciousness. This is all,
which by reflection on my own mind and comparison
with others and with records in books full as much as
observations on living subjects, I feel or fancy I have
sometimes done or can do.

But while I am thus ladling out praise to myself in
this way, I do not flatter myself that I deserve the quan-
tity of praise which Colonel Stewart gives me for labori-
ous observation, or for steadiness and nicety of dissection.
My father, to whose judgment I habitually refer to help
out my own judgment of myself, and who certainly
must from long acquaintance, to say no more, have
known my character better than any other person can,
always reproached me for trusting too much to my hasty
glances, apergus, as he called them, of character or
truths ; and often have I had, and have still (past my
grand climacteric) to repent every day my mistaken con-
clusions and hasty jumps to conclusions. Perhaps you
wish I should jump to conclusion now, and so I will.

TO MBS. EDGEWORTH.

DUNMOE COTTAGE, November 8, 1834.

I hope, my dear mother, that you have been wonder-
ing every day, and wondering greatly that you have

608 MAEIA EDGEWOETH [1834

never yet heard from Maria. I like that you should
wonder and be provoked at not hearing from me, because
when a letter comes it is opened with much more appe-
tite than if you had not been kept famishing.

I have not told you how very nice and comfortable
Sophy and Margaret Ruxton have made this cottage,
and the situation is charming, and the view beautiful.
I am reading Hannah More's " Letters," and am enter-
tained with them. I found at Black Castle four volumes
of Madame d'Abrantes, which I had never read : the
eleventh volume begins with her going to Portugal, and
though half may be lies well dressed, yet almost all are
entertaining.

TO MBS. E. BUTLER.

DUNMOE COTTAGE, November 28, 1834.

I have got the cushions, and am sitting on one of
them, and Sophy and Margaret like them, and think how
happy I am, though it is pouring rain, which affects my
happiness very little, except for the boy's sake who is to
carry this. I have some boy-anity.

The glorious orb the day refines,

The gossoon warms his shins and dines.

TO MBS. EDGEWOBTH.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, January 27, 1835.

We have been amusing ourselves with Lady Morgan's
" Princess," exceedingly amusing, both by its merits and
its absurdities, — that harlequin princess in her blouse
is wonderfully clever and preposterous, — a Belgian Co-
rinna. Mr. Butler has detected various errors in her
historical remarks and allusions, but that it is excessively

1835] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 609

entertaining nobody can deny. The hero is like one of
the seven sleepers not quite awakened, or how could he
avoid finding out who this woman is who pursues him
in so many forms ? But we must grant a romance
writer a few impossibilities.

Mrs. Edgeworth adds : —

Maria was always so much interested in a story
that she would not stop to reason upon it. I remember
when Lady Morgan's " O'Donnell " was being read out
in the year 1815, at the scene of M'Rory's appearance
in the billiard-room, when Mr. Edgeworth said, " This
is quite improbable," Maria exclaimed, " Never mind
the improbability, let us go on with the entertain-
ment."

MAEIA TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

EDGKWORTHSTOWN, January 28, 1835.

The other night Harriet stood beside my bed before
tea-time, and when I started up and said, " Tea is
ready, I suppose," she told me that Mr. and Mrs. Dan-
vers Butler and Miss Taylor were coming to tea. I
thought it was a dream, but she explained, — they had
come to Briggs's inn on their way to the County of
Cavan, and could get no beds. Luckily we had two
unoccupied rooms. Honora managed it all exceedingly
well, and Barry took Mr. Danvers Butler in hand while
he had dinner ; the ladies preferred tea and coffee. They
seemed much pleased by their reception. Mrs. Danvers
Butler was a Miss Freemantle, and when I mentioned
Lady Culling Smith and our Connemara adventures, she

610 MAEIA EDGEWORTH

said she knew her very well and the Carrs — " all mu-
sical, highly accomplished, and such a united family."
How oddly these little feltings of society go on in this
way, working into one another little fibres of connection
so strangely !

In the morning Briggs's four horses were put to their
heavy chaise, and with main difficulty it was got through
the yard and to the door, but not all the power of
all the servants and four or five people besides could
prevail upon these half-flayed-alive beasts to stir from
the door — they would only lack. So at last Barry
was so kind as to send his man Philip with our black
horses with them to Granard. We had as many thanks
as well-bred people could give, and a cordial invitation
to Leicestershire, if that could do us any good. Mr.
Danvers Butler is handsome and gentleman-like, and she
is charming ; she had with her a favorite little Italian
greyhound with a collar of little gilt bells round her
neck, which delighted the children, and she in return
admired the children, Willy especially.

Lady Stafford — or the Countess-Duchess of Suther-
land's magnificent memoir of her Duke, bound in
morocco, with a beautiful engraving of him, reached me
yesterday, but I have been in such a bother of tenants
and business, I have had time only to look at the
engraving and the kind inscription to myself.

Mrs. Edgeworth writes : —

At the time of the general election in 1835, Maria
was placed in a painful position as her brother's agent.
The tenants were forced by the priests to vote against

1835] TO C. SNEYD EDGEWOKTH 611

their landlord, and in his absence my son-in-law, Cap-
tain Fox, who had been much interested for the defeated
candidate, wished to punish the refractory tenants by
forcing them to pay up what is called the hanging-gale
of rent. Maria was grieved at any proceeding which
would interrupt the long-continued friendship between
these tenants and their landlord, and she was also
anxious that there should be no misunderstanding be-
tween her brother and her brother-in-law. Captain Fox
wrote to Sneyd to explain his views, and upon receiving
Sneyd's letter in reply Maria writes to him of her senti-
ments on the occasion.

MARIA TO C. SNEYD EDGEWORTH, ESQ.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, February 12, 1835.

I feel your kindness now most particularly in giving
me your full opinion, and desiring mine without one
word of reproach on not having heard from me. I had
written a long letter, but thinking it better Barry should
write to you himself, I determined to burn and burnt
what I had written to you, and scribbled a page in its
stead of I know not what — nonsense, I believe. And
now what remains to do ? My sense, if I have any, is
quite as much at your service as my nonsense has been.
And first for General Principles, to those independ-
ently of the particular case we should recur. I quite
agree with you, as you do with my father, in the gen-
eral principle that according to the British Constitution
the voters at election should be free, that the landlords
should not force their tenants to vote. But a landlord
must and should and ever will have influence, and this
is one way in which property is represented and the

612 MARIA EDGEWORTH [FEB.

real balance of the constitution preserved. My father
in fact always did use the influence of being a good kind
landlord, as well as the favor of leaving a hanging half-
year in their hands. I never knew him in any instance
revenge a tenant's voting against him, but I have heard
him say, and I know it was his principle, that he was
not bound to show favor or affection to any tenant who
voted what is called against his landlord. The calling
for the hanging-gale may, in this point of view, come
under his principles, as it is only the withdrawing of a
favor — the resumption of a landlord's right ; it may be
said not to be the infliction of an injury or the going
one tittle beyond the law ; nor even putting yourself in
the power of Parliament to notice it as unconstitutional.
This is literally true — so far — and further I admit,
for I say candidly the whole on both sides that occurs
to me — I admit, that I believe if my father were at
this moment living, and knew how shamefully the
priests have conducted themselves at the last election,
how they had forced his tenants and all others whom
they could bully to vote against their own will, full as
much as against their landlord, he might himself be
inclined to depart from his principle and to use force
over his tenants to balance the brutal force and violence
on the other side.

I say, my father might be so inclined, and his first
warmth of temper and indignation doubtless would so
urge him, but still —

" The golden curb discretion sets on bravery "
would act and rein in his temper in the first instance,
and his reason would rally and represent that it is never
either morally lawful or politically wise to do evil that

1835] TO C. SNEYD EDGEWORTH 613

good may come of it. Because the priests have used
force and intimidation, such as their situation and means
put in their power, are landlords to do likewise ? and
are the poor tenants in this world and the next to be
ruined and excommunicated between them ? Are we
to recriminate and revenge because the priests and the
people have done so ? beaten or beating as brutal force
decides ?

The honest constitutional means of resisting the hor-
rible wrong the priests have been guilty of in the last
election is by publishing the facts, bringing them as they
now must be brought in all their enormity before Parlia-
ment. As far as every private individual can assist in
bringing these truths to light and in influencing public
opinion by the eloquence of tongue or pen he does right,
as a man and as a gentleman, and a good member of
society, and wisely in the present times, to stop, if pos-
sible, the power of democracy. And this, I am sure, my
dear brother, is what you have done, and I do not wish
you to do more or less.

With respect to Charles Fox, I think he will certainly
stand the first opportunity. I am not sure that it will
be for his happiness to be in Parliament ; but I think
he will make an honest and moderate member and will
do well in committees, and I think you may support
him fairly ; he will not be bitter Orange ; he has good
sense and temper. I hate the term I have just used —
Orange, and I would avoid saying Whig or Tory if I
could, and consider only what is right and best to be
done in our time. I think the late Ultra-Reform
Liberalists went too far, and, had they continued in
power, would have overturned everything, both in Eng-

614 MARIA EDGEWOETH [FEB.

land and Ireland, would have let in upon us the raga-
muffin democracy, cried havoc, etc.

I think that nothing less than the decided, perhaps
despotic hand of the Duke of Wellington could prevent
this catastrophe, and the sense of Mr. Peel will aid, I
trust. The Duke has been a stander-by and has had
leisure to repent the error which turned him out before ;
viz. of declaring that he would have no reform. Mr.
Peel has well guarded against this in his address on his
return. What we must pray for is, that the hands of
the present Government may be strengthened sufficiently
to enable them to prevent the mischiefs prepared by the
last Administration, and that, having seen the error, they
may be wise in time.

Innumerable were the improvements which were
effected by Mrs. and Miss Edgeworth for the advantage
of their poorer neighbors in the immediate vicinity of
their home. Cottagers' houses were rebuilt or made
comfortable, schools built, and roads improved. A
legacy of diamonds from a relation was sold by Miss
Edgeworth that she might build a market-house in the
village, with a room over it for the magistrates' Petty
Sessions. She endeavored to be on the best terms with
the Catholic priests, to whom she showed constant kind-
ness and hospitality. Her poorer neighbors were made
sharers in all her interests or pleasures, and all those she
employed were treated as friends rather than servants.
All her sympathies were in behalf of Ireland. Yet she
met with no return of affection or sympathy. In 1836
we find Mrs. Farrar writing of Edgeworthstown : —

1835] TO PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 615

It was market-day : so the main street was full of the
lower order of Irish, with their horses and carts, asses and
panniers, tables and stands full of eatables and articles of
clothing. Sometimes the cart or car served as a counter
on which to display their goods. The women, in bright-
colored cotton gowns and white caps with full double
borders, made a very gay appearance. But as we passed
through the crowd to the schoolhouse, the enmity of
the Papists to Protestant landholders was but too evi-
dent.

Though Mrs. Edgeworth had been the Lady Bountiful
of the village for many years, there were no bows for
her or her friends, no making way before her, no touch-
ing of hats, no pleasant looks. A sullen expression and
a dogged immovability were on every side of us.

MAEIA TO PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN,
ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN THE MORNING, 1835.

How provoking, how chilling a feeling it gives of the
distance between us, my dear Pakenham, that we must
wait twelve months for an answer to any question the
most important or the most trivial ! But, thank Heaven,
letters and journals — bating this year between — do
bring us happily together, almost face to face and smile
to smile. I have often admired the poor Irishman's
oratorical bull when he exclaimed, as he looked through
a telescope for the first time and saw the people at a cot-
tage door, miles off, brought near, " Then I heard 'em
speak quite plain, I think." I think I sometimes hear
you speaking and hear the people call you Sahib.

You have seen in the papers the death of our amiable

616 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

friend, Mr. Malthus. How well he loved you ! His
lectureship on Political Economy has been filled up by a
very able and deserving friend of mine, Mr. Jones, whose
book on Bents you have just been reading, and whose
book and self I had the pleasure of first introducing to
Lord Lansdowne, under whose administration this ap-
pointment was made. The pupils at Haileybury must
now learn from Jones's lectures the objections he made
to Malthus's system ! I remember once hearing the an-
swer of a skeptic in Political Economy, when reproached
with not being of some Political Economy Club, " When-
ever I see any two of you gentlemen agree, I shall be
happy to agree with you."

I hope your box of seeds will come safe and will grow.
I dare say Harriet will have told you of the Cornish gen-
tleman she met at Black Castle, who told of tbe blue
hydrangea fifteen feet high, and bearing such a profusion '
of flowers that they were counted, 2352 bunches, each
bunch as large as his head ! We endeavored to correct,
and said florets for bunches, presuming he so meant,
but he distinctly said bunches — so make what you can
of it.

March 19.

Yesterday I am sure you recollected and honored as
Barry and Sophy's wedding-day. Honora had the break-
fast table covered with flowers, primroses, violets, poly-
anthus, and laurustinus, and some of Sophy's own snow-
drops, double and single, which obligingly lingered on
purpose to celebrate the day.

Did you see how Lord Darnley cut his foot with an
axe while he was hewing the root of a tree, and died in

1835] TO PAKENHAM EDGEWORTH 617

consequence of lockjaw ! Harriet, who knew him and
all the good he did in their neighborhood, is very sorry
for him.

I have not, I believe, mentioned to you any books ex-
cept my own ; but we have been amused with the " In-
visible Gentleman." You must swallow one monstrous
magical absurdity at the beginning, and the rest will go
down glibly — that is, amusing.

Instructive and entertaining : Burne's " Mission to
Lahore and Bokhara."

Instructive, interesting, and entertaining : Roget on
" Physiology, with reference to Theology " — one of the
Bridgewater Treatises, full of facts the most curious,
arranged in the most beautifully luminous manner. The
infinitely large, and the infinitely small in creation, ad-
mirably displayed.

Hannah More's " Letters : " many of them entertain-
ing — many admirable for manner and matter, altogether
too much ; two volumes would have been better than
four.

Inglis's " Ireland : " I think he is an honest writer,
a man of great observation and ability, and a true admirer
of the beauties of nature. He exaggerates and makes
some mistakes, as all travelers do.

"Still drops from life some withering joy away."
Year after year, we must witness these sad losses. Aunt
Alicia gone ! and Aunt Bess Waller, of whom you were
so fond. What an amiable and highly cultivated mind
she had, and so hospitable and kind.

618 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

TO MISS KUXTOST.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 31, 1835.

Harriet told me, my dear Sophy, that she found you
in bed, reading "Popular Tales," or some of my old
things — thank you, thank you, my dear, for loving
them. I hope that this will find you better, and that
your Black Castle walks, leaning on that kind Isabella's
arm, will have quite restored you.

I have been reading Roget's most admirable Bridge-
water Treatise — admirable in every way, scientific, moral,
and religious, in the most deep and exalted manner —
religious, raising the mind through nature's works up to
nature's God, which must increase and exalt piety where
it exists, and create and confirm the devotional feelings
where they have lain dormant. All his facts are most
curious, and the exclamation, " how fearfully and won-
derfully we are made," may be extended to the ugliest
tadpole that wabbles in a ditch till he is a frog, and the
microscope invented by that creature man endowed
with —

Luckily a hair in my pen stopped me, or I might have
gone on to another page, in my hot fit of enthusiasm.

TO THE SAME.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, September, 1835.

Have you seen in the papers reports about the mar-
riage of Lord John Russell to Lady E,. ? All true —
Lady Eibblesdale, ci-devant Adelaide Lister, Aunt Mary's
niece, a young widow with a charming little boy ; this
morning Aunt Mary had a letter from Lady Ribblesdale
herself. If she was to marry again she could not have

1835] MAEIA EDGEWOKTH 619

made a more suitable match. He is a very domestic
man, and, save his party violence and folly, very amiable
and sensible.

Mr. George Ticknor l and his family visited Edge-
worthstown in August, 1835, and remained there several
days, which were a very interesting and happy time to
Miss Edgeworth. Mr. Ticknor describes his visit at
great length in his journals, and the first appearance of
Miss Edgeworth : —

A small, short, spare lady of about sixty-seven, with
extremely frank and kind manners, and who always
looks straight into your face with a pair of mild deep
gray eyes whenever she speaks to you. Her conversa-
tion, always ready, is as full of vivacity and variety as I
can imagine. It is also no less full of good-nature. She
is disposed to defend everybody, as far as she can, though
never so far as to be unreasonable. And in her inter-
course with her family she is quite delightful, referring
constantly to Mrs. Edgeworth, who seems to be the
authority for all matters of fact, and most kindly repeat-
ing jokes to her infirm aunt, Miss Sneyd, who cannot
hear them, and who seems to have for her the most
unbounded affection and admiration.

About herself as an author she seems to have no
reserve or secrets. . . . But though she talks freely
about herself and her works, she never introduces the
subject, and never seems glad to continue it. She talks

l The well-known Professor of Modern Literature at Harvard Univer-
sity, author of the History of Spanish Literature, etc. Born 1791,
died 1871.

620 MAEIA EDGEWOETH [1835

quite as well, and with quite as much interest, on every-
thing else.

It is plain that the family make a harmonious whole,
and by those who visited Edgeworthstown when it was
much larger, and composed of the children of all the
wives of Mr. Edgeworth, with their connections produced
by marriage, so as to form the most heterogeneous rela-
tionships, I am told there was always the same striking
union and agreeable intercourse among them all, to the
number of sometimes fifteen or twenty.

. . . The house, and many of its arrangements — the
bells, the doors, etc. — bear witness to that love of me-
chanical trifling of which Mr. Edgeworth was so often
accused. But things in general are very convenient and
comfortable through the house, though, as elsewhere in
Ireland, there is a want of English exactness and finish.
However, all such matters, even if carried much farther
than they are, would be mere trifles in the midst of so
much kindness, hospitality, and intellectual pleasures of
the highest order as we enjoyed under their roof, where
hospitality is so abundant that they have often had
twenty or thirty friends come upon them unexpectedly,
when the family was much larger than it is now.

Maria Edgeworth was now the real owner of Edge-
worthstown. Her half-brother Lovell's embarrassments
had obliged him to sell his paternal inheritance, and
Miss Edgeworth gladly expended the fortune which .had
come to her through literature in preserving it from
falling into the hands of strangers. She only stipulated
that she herself should remain as much " a background
figure" as before. Lovell Edgeworth was still the

1835] MARIA EDGE WORTH 621

apparent owner of Edgeworthstown. Mrs. Edgeworth
was still the mistress of the house, consulted and deferred
to in everything. In her note of invitation to Mr. and
Mrs. Ticknor she says : " The sooner you can come to us
the better, because Mrs. Edgeworth is now at home with
us, "... as you would find this house much more agree-
able when she is at home ; and in truth you never could
see it to advantage, or see things as they really are in this
family, unless when she makes part of it, and when she
is at the head of it." * Maria Edgeworth unconsciously
depicted herself when describing Miss Emma Granby,
" The Modern Griselda : " —

"All her thoughts were intent upon making her friends
happy. She seemed to live in them more than in her-
self, and from sympathy rose the greatest pleasure and
pain of her existence. Her sympathy was not of that
useless kind which is called forth only by the elegant
fictitious sorrows of a heroine of romance ; hers was
ready for all the occasions of real life ; nor was it to be
easily checked by the imperfections of those to whom
she could be of service."

Amongst those who visited Edgeworthstown about this
time was the American authoress, Mrs. Farrar, who
writes : —

When shown to our bedroom we found such an ex-
traordinary lock to the door 2 that we dared not shut it
for fear of not being able to open it again. That room,
too, was unlike any I ever saw. It was very large, with

1 Life of George Ticknor.

8 One of Mr. Edgeworth's inventions.

622 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [1836

three huge windows, two of them heavily curtained, and
the third converted into a small wardrobe, with doors of
pink cotton on a wooden frame. It had two very large
four-post bedsteads, with full suits of curtains, and an
immense folding-screen that divided the room in two,
making each occupant as private as if in a separate room,
with a dressing-table and ample washing conveniences
on each side. A large grate filled with turf, and all
ready for lighting, with a peat basket lined with tin, and
also filled with the same fuel, reminded us strongly that
we were in Ireland. Large wax candles were on the
mantelpiece, and every convenience necessary to our
comfort.

Miss Edgeworth was very short, and carried herself
very upright, with a dapper figure and quick movements.
She was the remains of a blonde, with light eyes and
hair ; she was now gray, but wore a dark frisette, whilst
the gray hair showed through her cap behind. In con-
versation we found her delightful. She was full of
anecdotes about remarkable people, and often spoke from
her personal knowledge of them. Her memory, too,
was stored with valuable information, and her manner
of narrating was so animated that it was difficult to
realize her age. In telling an anecdote of Mirabeau,
she stepped out before us, and, extending her arms,
spoke a sentence of his in the impassioned manner of a
French orator, and did it so admirably that it was quite
thrilling.

Another American visitor in the same year of 1836,
the Rev. William B. Sprague, writes : l —
1 European Celebrities, 1855.

1836] MARIA EDGEWORTH 623

The Edgeworth house is a fine spacious old mansion,
with a splendid lawn stretching before it, and everything
to indicate opulence and hereditary distinction. . . . Miss
Edgeworth was the first person to meet me ; and she
immediately introduced me to her mother, Mrs. Edge-
worth, her father's fourth wife, and her sister, Miss
Honora Edgeworth. Miss Edgeworth, in her personal
appearance, was below middle size ; her face was ex-
ceedingly plain, though strongly indicative of intellect ;
and though she seemed to possess great vigor of body as
well as of mind, it was, after all, the vigor of old age. I
supposed her to be about sixty-five, but I believe she was
actually on the wrong side of seventy. Her stepmother,
Mrs. Edgeworth, must have been, I think, rather younger
than Maria, and was not only a lady of high intelligence,
but of great personal attractions, and withal of a very
serious turn of mind. As Miss Edgeworth knew that
my visit was to be limited to a single day, she told me
almost immediately that she wished to know in what
way she could contribute most to my gratification —
whether by remaining in the house or walking over the
grounds. She talked upon a great variety of subjects,
but there was nothing about her that had ever any
affinity to showing off or trying to talk well ; she evi-
dently did not know how to talk otherwise. Circum-
stances led her to speak of her experience with some
of her publishers. She mentioned that one of them had
repeatedly requested her to abate from the amount which
he had engaged to pay her, and that she had done so ;
but at length, after she had told him explicitly to make
proposals he would abide by, he wrote her a letter,
saying that he wished another abatement, and that he

624 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1836

found that on the whole he had lost by her works ; and
she then wrote him in reply, that in consequence of the
loss he had sustained, she would transfer her publica-
tions to other hands. He afterwards earnestly requested
that she would excuse him for having thus written, and
desired to retain the works ; but she was inflexible,
and he very angry. Her former publisher, she said,
when he found himself dying, called for a letter to her
which was then unfinished, and requested that there
should be inserted a promise of ten or twelve hundred
pounds more than he had engaged to give her for one of
her works ; for it had been so much more profitable
to him than he expected, that he could not die in peace
till he had done justly by her. And his heirs executed
his will in accordance with this dying suggestion.

Home interests, home cares, and home sorrows were
henceforth increasingly to occupy Miss Edgeworth's life.

MARIA TO MISS RUXTON.

LOUGH GLYN, September 16, 1836.

You may suppose how I felt the kindness of your
note. You are now my friend of longest standing and
dearest parentage in this world ; and in this world, in
which I have lived nearly three-quarters of a century, I
have found nothing one quarter so well worth living for
as old friends.

We go to Moore Hall to-morrow. We had here yes-
terday a party at dinner, all exquisite in their way ;
Lord and Lady Dillon and Miss Dillon, Lord Oranmore
and his son, Mr. Brown, and two Miss Stricklands and
their brothers ; and colored fireworks in the evening :

1837] TO MISS MARGAEET RUXTON 625

of all of which you shall hear more when we meet.
Breakfast-bell ringing in my ears.

March 5, 1837.

The last accounts will have prepared you — more pre-
pared, perhaps, than I was, for hope had lived in spite
of reason when life was gone — your beloved and most
amiable, angelic-tempered goddaughter 1 is gone. She
preserved her charming mind quite clear all through,
and had her mother with her, and the comfort of know-
ing that her children were in the care of Mr. Butler and
Harriet.

TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, December 17, 1837.

We are very anxious indeed to hear of Sophy : 2 the
last account Harriet gave was quite alarming. I see
Richard going about the house with his watch in his
hand to feel Sophy's pulse, and looking so anxious.
How glad he must be that he had returned home, and to
Sophy what a comfort it must be, to have the certainty
of his affection, and to have the earliest companion of her
childhood and her manly friend beside her now ! I will
go to her instantly if she desires it.

I long to hear that you have had, and that you like,
the " Memoirs of Mr. Smedley." I am sure that, when
Sophy is well enough to hear or to read anything, that
book will be the very thing for her.

1 Her sister Sophy, Mrs. 'Barry Fox, who died March 1.

2 Miss Ruxton, Miss Edgeworth's cousin and dearest friend, died at
Black Castle, December 30.

626 MARIA EDGEWOETH [Jui/r

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

TKIM, July 25, 1838.

Mrs. Lazarus's 1 death did indeed shock and grieve
me. But it is, as you say, the condition, the doom of
advancing, advanced age, to see friend after friend go ;
but in proportion as it detaches one from life, it still
more makes us value the friends we have left. And
continually, at every fresh blow, I really wonder, and
am thankful, most truly thankful, that I have so many,
so much left.

TO MISS MARGARET RTJXTON.

October 10, 1838.

I am sure, my dear Margaret, you were pleased at
Honora's communication : you wrote a most kind and
pleasant letter of congratulation.2 She has hitherto
been most fortunate in pleasing all her friends, both as
to the fact and as to the time and manner of telling.
Do you remember a conversation we had standing upon
the hearth in my room one night, between eleven and
twelve, the witching hour, and what you asked me about
Captain Beaufort ? The secret had then been confided
to me ; and I hope you will do me the justice to
acknowledge that, open-hearted and open-mouthed as I
am, I can keep a secret WONDERFUL well.

1 Formerly Miss Mordecai.

2 On the engagement of her sister Honora to Captain Beaufort, her
stepmother's brother.

1838] TO MR. AND MRS. TICKNOR 627

TO MB. AND MRS. TIC KNOB.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, November 1, 1838.

. . . My sister Honora is going to be married to a
person every way suited to her, and that is saying a
great deal, as you, who most kindly and justly appreci-
ated her, will readily join with me in thinking. The
gentleman's name, Captain Beaufort, R. N., perhaps you
may be acquainted with, as he is in a public situation,
and not unknown to literary and scientific fame. He is
a naval officer (I hope you like this officer's name ?).
He made some years ago a survey of the coast of Kara-
mania, and wrote a small volume on that survey, which
has obtained for him a good reputation. He has been,
for some years Hydrographer Royal; ... in one word,
he is a person publicly esteemed, and privately he is
beloved and esteemed by all who know him, most by
those who love him best. He is and has been well
known to us ever since the present Mrs. Edgeworth's
marriage with my father ; Captain Beaufort is Mrs. Edge-
worth's youngest brother. As Mrs. E. is Honora's
stepmother, you see that he is no relation whatever to
Honora. But the nearness of the connection has given
us all the best means of knowing him thoroughly. He
was my dear father's most beloved pupil and friend ; by
pupil I mean that being so much younger made him look
up to my father with reverence, and learn from him in
Science and" literature with delight. Thus he has been
long connected with all I love. He has been a widower
two years. He has three sons and four daughters. . . .
The youngest daughter, Emily, is a delightful child.
Captain Beaufort lives in London, 11 Gloucester Place ;

628 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

has a very comfortable house and sufficient fortune for
all their moderate wishes. Honora's fortune, which is
ample, will give them affluence.

My dear Mrs. Ticknor, I know you particularly liked
Honora, and that you will he interested in hearing all
these particulars, though it seems impertinent to detail
them across the Atlantic to one who will, I fear, never
see any one of the persons I have mentioned. Yet
affections such as yours keep warm very long and at a
great distance.

I feel that I have got into a snug little corner in
both your hearts, and that you will excuse a great deal
from me, therefore I go on without scruple drawing upon
your sympathy, and you will not protest my draft.

You saw how devoted Honora was to her aunt, Miss
Mary Sneyd, whom you liked so much ; and you will
easily imagine what a struggle there has been in Ho-
nora's mind before she would consent to a marriage with
even such a man as Captain Beaufort, when it must
separate her from her aunt. Captain Beaufort himself
felt this so much that he would never have pressed it.
He once thought that she might be prevailed upon to
accompany them to London, and to live with them.
But Miss Mary Sneyd could not bear to leave Mrs.
Edgeworth, and this place which she has made her
heart's home. She decided Captain Beaufort and her
niece to make her happy by completing their union, and
letting her feel that she did not prevent the felicity of
the two persons she loves best now in the world. She
remains with us.

The marriage is to take place next Tuesday or Thurs-
day, and my Aunt Mary will go to church with her

1838] TO MR. AND MRS. TICKNOR 629

niece and give her away. I must tell you a little
characteristic trait of this aunt, the least selfish of all
human beings. She has been practicing getting up early
in the morning, which she has not done for two years —
has never got up for breakfast. But she has trained
herself to rising at the hour at which she must rise on
the wedding-day, and has walked up and down her own
room the distance she must walk up and down the aisle
of the church, to insure her being accustomed to the
exertion, and able to accomplish it easily. This she did
for a long time without our knowing it, till Honora
found it out. Miss Mary Sneyd is quite well and in
excellent spirits.

A younger sister of mine, Lucy, of whom you have
heard us speak as an invalid, who was at Clifton with
that dear Sophy whom we have lost, is now recovered,
and has returned home to take Honora's place with her
Aunt Mary; and Aunt Mary likes to have her, and
Lucy feels this a great motive to her to overcome a
number of nervous feelings which formed part of her
illness, A regular course of occupations and duties, and
feeling herself essential to the happiness and the holding
together of a family she so loves, will be the best
strengthening medicine for her. She arrived at home
last night. My sister Fanny and her husband, Lestock
Wilson, are with us. My sister has much improved in
health ; she' is now able to walk without pain, and bore
her long journey and voyage here wonderfully. I have
always regretted, and always shall regret, that this sis-
ter Fanny of mine had not the pleasure of becoming
acquainted with you. You really must revisit England.
My sister Harriet Butler, and Mr. Butler, and the three

630 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1838

dear little Foxes, are all round me at this instant.
Barry Fox, their father, will he with us in a few days,
and Captain Beaufort returns from London on Monday.
You see what a large and happy family we are !

Mr. Butler will perform the happy, awful ceremony.
How people who do not love can even dare to marry,
to approach the altar to pronounce that solemn vow, I
cannot conceive.

My thoughts are so engrossed by this subject that I
absolutely cannot tell you of anything else. You must
tell me of everything that interests you, else I shall not
forgive myself for my egotism.

TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, November 8, 1838.

You are the first person I write to upon returning
from church after the accomplishment of Honora and
Captain Beaufort's marriage. Captain Beaufort was
affected more than any man I ever saw in the same cir-
cumstances, yet in the most manly manner. Aunt Mary
went to church, as she had intended : they had both re-
ceived her blessing, kneeling as to a mother, the evening
•before in her own room. Lestock and Barry were at the
church door, to hand her up the aisle. Old Mr. Keating
was there, excellent, warm-hearted man ; and Mr. Butler
performed the ceremony. The bride and bridegroom
went off from the church door, and are, I suppose, by this
time, five o'clock, at Trim.

1840] TO MRS. EDGEWOETH 631

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH, IN LONDON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, August 25, 1839.

You will, I am sure, give me credit for having so well
and pleasantly performed our visits — Kosa, Lucy, and
Francis with me — to the Pakenhams and Pollards.
Francis found Mr. Pollard very agreeable, and was
charmed with Mrs. Pollard's manners and conversation.
We called on Mrs. Dease on our return, and walked in
her garden, in which, in all my seventy years, I never
walked before, and saw huge bunches of crimson Indian
pinks, some of which are now in my garden, and well
doing there.

In the morning, before we went to Kinturk, came a
note from a gentleman at the White Hart, Edge worths-
town, waiting for an answer : an American medical pro-
fessor, Dr. Gibson. It was very unlucky that I was
engaged to go out — irrevocably settled : however, I sat
two hours and a half with Dr. Gibson, and very clever
and agreeable I found him.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

TRIM, November 1, 1840.

I am perfect) dearest mother, so no more about it, and
thank you from my heart and every component part of
my precious self for all the care and successful care you
have taken of me, your old petted nursling. Thank you
and Mrs. Mitchell for the potted meat luncheon, and
Mr. Tuite for his grapes, — Mary Anne and Charlotte
had some. I was less tired than I could have expected
when I reached Trim, and there was Mr. Butler on the
steps ready to welcome us, and candles and firelight in

632 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

the drawing-room so cheerful. I slept like a sleeping
top. Harriet read out " Ferdinand and Isabella," which,
with all its chivalresque interest, I do like very much.
I am sure Kosa's1 Spanish interest in the book will
grow by that it feeds upon, and I am very glad that she
who has such fresh genuine pleasure in literature should
have this book, which is so beautifully written, because
it is so well felt by the author. Poor kind man. I
will write to Mr. Ticknor as soon as I come to Finis.

The birds got home well ; but traveling, Harriet tells
me, does not agree with them, because they cannot stick
upon their perch, and it is a perpetual struggle between
cling and jolt.

November 10.

I inclose a note of Miss Crampton's and two notes of
Lady Normanby's. I never read more unaffected affec-
tionate wife-like letters. How gratifying they must be
to Crampton, and it raises one's opinion of Lord Nor-
manby himself to find he can so attach a woman and a
wife.

The " History of a Flirt," which Harriet is reading to
me, is rather entertaining but not interesting — a new
and ingenious idea of a flirt, who is not looking for
establishment or match-making, and therefore her disin-
terestedness charms all the lords and gentlemen who
have been used to match-making mothers and young-lady
hunters for titles, and under favor of this disinterested-
ness her insolence and faithlessness is passed over, while
all the time she is in love with a captain with " soft
Venetian eyes," as Mrs. Thrale used to say of Piozzi.
1 Mrs. Francis Edgeworth.

1840] TO ME. TICKNOR 633

November 16.

The ear-comforter or earwig is beautiful and comfort-
able, and is, I hear, as becoming to me as was the Chan-
cellor's wig to Francis Forbes when he acted " Of Age
To-morrow." I am acting of age to-day, and very gay,
and perhaps may arrive at years of discretion at eighty,
if I live so long. I certainly wish to live till next
month that I may see you all at home again. You know
the classic distich, which my father pointed out and
translated for me, which was over the entrance door of
the Cross Keys inn, near Beighterton : —

If you are told you will die to-morrow you smile:

If you are told you will die a month hence j'ou will sigh.

I do not know where this may be in a book, but I know
it is in human nature.

TO MB. TICKNOR.

TRIM, November 19, 1840.

... I am afraid to invite you to come and see us
again, lest you should be disenchanted, and we should
lose the delightful gratification we enjoy in your glamour
of friendship. Aunt Mary, however, is really all you
think and saw her; and in her good years still a proof,
as you describe her — and a remarkable proof — of the
power of mind over time, suffering, and infirmities, and
an example of Christian virtues, making old age lovely
and interesting.

Your prayer, that she might have health and strength
to enjoy the gathering of friends round her, has been
granted. Honora and her husband, and Fanny and her
husband, have been with us all this summer for months ;
and we have enjoyed ourselves as much as your kind

634 MAKIA EDGEWORTH [Nov.

heart could wish. Especially " that beautiful specimen
of a highly cultivated gentlewoman," as you so well
called Mrs. Edgeworth, has been blest with the sight of
all her children round her, all her living daughters and
their husbands, and her grandchildren. Francis will
settle at home, and be a good country gentleman and
his own agent, to Mrs. Edgeworth' s and all our inex-
pressible comfort and support, also for the good of the
county, as a resident landlord and magistrate much
needed. As he is at home I can be spared from the
rent-receiving business, etc., and leaving him with his
mother, Aunt Mary, and Lucy, I can indulge myself by
accepting an often-urged invitation from my two sisters,
Fanny and Honora, to spend some months with them in
London. I have chosen to go at this quiet time of year,
as I particularly wish not to encounter the bustle and
dissipation and lionizing of London. For though I am.
such a minnikin lion now, and so old, literally without
teeth or claws, still there be, that might rattle at the
grate to make me get up and come out, and stand up to
play tricks for them, and this I am not able or inclined
to do. I am afraid I should growl ; I never could be
as good-natured as Sir Walter Scott used to be, when
rattled for and made to " come out and stand on his
hind legs," as he used to describe it, and then go quietly
to sleep again.

I shall use my privilege of seventy-two — rising
seventy-three — and shall keep in my comfortable den ;
I will not go out. "Nobody asked you, ma'am," to
play lion, may perhaps be said or sung to me, and I
shall not be sorry nor mortified by not being asked to
exhibit, but heartily happy to be with my sisters and

1840] TO MR. TICKNOR 635

their family and family friends — all for which I go —
knowing my own mind very well I speak the plain
truth. I shall return to Edgeworthstown before the
London season, as it is called, commences ; i. e. by the
end of March, or at the very beginning of April.

This is all I have, for the present, to tell you of my
dear self, or of our family doings or plannings.

... I do not know whether I was most interested,
dear Mrs. Ticknor, in your picture of your domestic life
and happy house and home, or in the view you gave me
of your public festivity and celebration of your Amer-
ican day of days — your national festival in honor of
your Declaration of Independence. It was never, I sup-
pose, more joyously, innocently, and advantageously held
than on the day you describe so delightfully with the
accuracy of an eye-witness. I think I too have seen all
this, and thank you for showing it to me. It is a
picture that will never leave the memory of my heart.
I only wish that we could ever hope to have in Ireland
any occasion or possibility of such happy and peaceable
meetings, with united sympathy and for the keeping
alive a feeling of national patriotism. No such point
of union can be found, alas ! in Ireland ; no subject
upon which sects and parties could coalesce for an hour,
or join in rejoicing or feeling for their country ! Father
Mathew, one might have hoped, considering the good
he has effected for all Ireland, and considering his own
unimpeachable character and his great liberality, admit-
ting all sects and all parties to take his pledge and share
his benevolent efforts, might have formed a central point
round which all might gather. But no such hope ! for
I am just now assured his very Christian charity and

636 MARIA EDGE WORTH DEC.

liberality are complained of by his Catholic brethren,
priests and laity, who now begin to abuse him for giving
the pledge to Protestants, and say, "What good our
fastings, our temperance, our being of the true faith, if
Father Mathew treat heretics all as one, as Catholics
themselves ! and would have them saved in this world
and the next too ! Then I would not doubt but at
the last he 'd turn tail ! ay turn Protestant himself
entirely"

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET, December 26.

While Francis is pro-ing and con-ing with Fanny
about alterations in his house at Clewer, I may go on
with my scribbling, and tell you that Honora luncheoned
here, and then off we went to Mrs. Debrizey's, Mrs. Dar-
win's, Mrs. Hensleigh Wedgwood, Mrs. Guillemard, and
Mrs. Marcet — at Mrs. Edward Romilly's.

Mrs. Darwin is the youngest daughter of Jos. Wedg-
wood, and is worthy of both father and mother ; affec-
tionate, and unaffected, and — young as she is, full of
old times, she has her mother's radiantly cheerful coun-
tenance, even now, debarred from all London gayeties
and all gayety but that of her own mind by close attend-
ance on her sick husband.

Mrs. Marcet was ill in bed, but Mr. and Mrs. Edward
Romilly were pleasing and willing to be pleased, and he
talked over his father's " Memoirs " candidly and sensi-
bly, and like a good son and a man of sense.

" I had like to have forgotten " — strange expression !
can Mr. Butler explain it ? / had like to have forgot-
ten and must tell Aunt Mary about Mrs. Lister calling.

1841] TO MKS. EDGEWORTH 637

TO MKS. EDGEWORTH.

January 2, 1841.

Thank you for your birthday good wishes. How many
birthdays have brought me the same never-failing kindness.

A very pleasant meeting we had yesterday at your
brother's.1 Honora, dear Honora, was so nice and kind,
nobody but ourselves. At second course appeared the
essential trifle,2 and, trifle as it was, it was quite delight-
ful to me with Honora's smile.

Did you ever taste figs stuffed with almonds ? I hope
you never may taste them ! very bad, I assure you, but
how the almonds got in puzzled me ; all tight and closed
as the outer skin looks without ridge or joining.

Did you ever taste Imperial Tokay ? Your brother
gave me some of the best ever tasted, 1 am told; and
what do you think I said ?

" Why, this cannot be Tokay ! "

" Did you ever taste Tokay before ? " said he.

" 0 yes, very often ; but this is not Tokay."

" Be pleased to tell us what it is then/' quoth
Lestock.

"I don't know; but not Tokay, or a different sort
from what I ever tasted, for that was sour and always
drunk in green glasses."

Suddenly I recollected that I meant Hock !

Do you recollect the history of the Irishman, who
declared that he had seen anchovies growing on the

1 Recently married to Honora Edgeworth.

2 A trifle always appeared on Maria Edgeworth's birthday, because
once on New Year's Day, when a trifle had been ordered and the dish
was placed on the table, there was found under the flowers, not cake and
cream, but a little story Maria had written, A Trifle. The young folk
had a real trifle afterwards.

638 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JAN.

walls at Gibraltar ? Challenged a gentleman for doubt-
ing him, met, and fired, and hit his man, and when the
man who was hit sprang up as he received the shot, and
the second observed " How he capers ! "

"By the powers ! It was capers I meant 'stead of
anchovies."

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

1 NORTH AUDLET STREET,
January 10, 1841.

Apropos du pluie, a propos du beau temps — I think
of you and ten thousand times a week. (" I hate
exaggeration.") I wish for you when I am in want of
some unremembered or disremembered name. I do love
that Irish verb disre member, and I conjugate it daily
from the infinitive to the preterpluperfect. Last week I
preterpluperfectly disremembered, when talking to Morris
of Fortunio's gifted men, whether the legs of him who
outrunneth the hare were tied with green or red ? Par-
ties run high for green and for red — please to settle the
question.

Fanny has been reading to me Darwin's " Voyage ; "
delightful it is.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

1 NORTH AUDLET STREET,
January 13, 1841.

Most agreeable dinner here yesterday ; the convives
were : Dr. Lushington, Mr. Andrews ; Mrs. Andrews at
the last sent a regret — ill in bed with a headache.
Honora came in her stead. Mr. Mackintosh and Miss
Carr ; Dr. Lushington beside Fanny, and carving re-
markably well, and most entertaining and agreeable ; he

1841] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 639

raised the heart's laugh frequently, and the head's by
fresh, not old-faded-London-diner-out bonmots, anecdotes,
and facts worth knowing, all with the assistance of Mr.
Andrews, so remarkably agreeable and gentlemanly a
gentleman ; they played into each other's hands and
mine delightfully, and Fanny's, and Honora's, and the
ball came to everybody pat, in turn. The ball, did I
say ? Boomerang I should have said, for it came back
always nicely to the thrower.

I must tell you an anecdote I heard yesterday from
Mr. Kenyon, brother of Lord Kenyon's, a saying of Mrs.
Brooke, sister of Baron Garrow, who, notwithstanding
his bullying manner in court, was a man easily swayed
in private, always influenced by the last thing said by
the last person in his company — all which was com-
pressed by Mrs. Brooke into : " With my brother pres-
ence is power "

TO MBS. B. BUTLEB.

1 NORTH AUDLET STREET,
February 24, 1841.

My ultimate intention and best hope for my own sel-
fish satisfaction is to go with you and Mr. Butler to that
poor, uncentred^ desolate home at Edgeworthstown.

What an inexpressible comfort that you were with
your mother, Lucy, and Honora, and my dear lost aunt
to the last.

TO MBS. EDGEWOBTH.

March 14, 1841.

Here I am like a Sybarite, but with luxuries such as
a Sybarite or Sybaritess never dreamed of : a cup of good

l Miss Mary Sneyd died at the age of ninety, on the 10th of Febru-
ary, 1841.

640 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MARCH

coffee and some dry toast and butter, a good coal fire on
my right, a light window on my left, dressing-table oppo-
site, with large looking-glass, which reflects, not my face,
which for good reasons of my own I never wish to see,
but a beautiful green lawn and cedars of Lebanon ; and
on my mantelpiece stand jars of Nankin china, and shells
from — Ocean knows where. And where do you think
I am ? At Heathfield Lodge, Croydon, the seat of
Gerard Ralstone, Esq. ; and met here at a large dinner
yesterday Mr. Napier, and he comes for me to-morrow,
and takes me to Forest Hill. At this dinner were t'tvev
celebrated American gentlemen — Mr. Sparks, who wrote
Washington's " Life ; " and Mr. Clisson, a man of fortune,
and benevolently enthusiastic about colonization in Li-
beria.

After luncheon I saw march by to church a whole
regiment of youths from Addiscombe, which is near
here.

But now I must retrograde to tell you, as I have a
few minutes more than I expected, of a visit I had an
hour before I set out, from a man fresh from Africa — a
Scotchman by birth, a missionary by vocation, who had
been twenty years abroad, almost all that time in Africa :
sent to the Hottentots in the first place, and he con-
verted many. They were taught to sow and to reap,
and the women to sew in the other way, all by this
indefatigable Mr. Moffatt ; and they taught him on their
part how to do the CLUCK, and Mr. Moffatt did it for
me. It is indescribable and inimitable. It is not so
loud as a hen's cluck to her chickens, but more quick
and abrupt.

He said that when he was ordered to return home, he

1841] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 641

felt it as a sentence of banishment. " I had lived so
long in Africa, I felt it my home, and I had almost for-
gotten how to speak English. I almost dreaded to be
among white faces again."

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET.

Mr. Napier brought me here by half after twelve.

I had a delightful drive with him in his little pony-
phaeton from Croydon to Forest Hill. Mr. and Mrs.
Napier are more and more delightful to me in conver-
sation and manners the more I see of them. A brother,
Captain Napier, very conversable, and full of humor ; he
has a charming daughter, and has been in all parts of the
world, and loves Ireland and the Irish.

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET, April, 1841.

I must tell you now of my visit to Warfield Lodge.
Henrietta and Wren met me at the station, and all the
way, when they spoke, it seemed as if I had parted
from them but yesterday. When I saw Miss O'Beirne,
there was, opposite to me, that fine, full-colored, full of
life, speaking picture of Mrs. O'Beirne. The place is as
pretty as ever, and it was impossible for the most hospi-
table luxury to do more for me, and with the most
minute recollective attention to all my olden-times habits
and ways. I would not for anything that could be given
or done for me, not have paid this visit.

One evening Miss O'Beirne invited some friends I
was particularly glad to see — three daughters of my
dear Sir John Malcolm, all very fine young women, with
fine souls, and vast energy and benevolence, worthy of
him.

642 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1841

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, September 27.

I send you some Spanish books which I bought,
with one eye upon you and one upon Rosa. I sat up
till past one o'clock a few nights ago, and caught cold,
looking through the whole of " Hudibras," for what at
last could not be found in it, though I still am confident
it is there : —

" Murder is lawful made by the excess."

In the middle of my hunt my mind misgave me that
it was in the " Fable of the Bees," and I went through
it line by line, and for my pains can swear it is not
there. It is wonderful that, at seventy-four, I can be so
ardent in the chase, certainly not for the worth of the
game, nor yet for the triumph of finding ; for I care not
whether I am the person to find it or not, so it is found.
Pray find it for me.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 10, 1842.

We have been much entertained and interested in
Macaulay's " Life of Hastings," in the " Edinburgh ; "
but some of it is too gaudily written, and mean gaudi-
ness, unsuited to the subject — such as the dresses of the
people at Westminster Hall ; and I think Macaulay's
indignation against Glegg for his adulation of Hastings,
and his not feeling indignation against his crimes, is
sometimes noble, and sometimes mean and vituperative.

TO MRS. BEAUFORT.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, March 12.

Mr. Creed, my dear good Mr. Creed, has been most
kind in taking into his employment one of the young
Gerrards who behaved so gallantly in recovering their

1842] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 643

father's arms from robbers. The poor people are seldom
rewarded when they do right, yet surely, in the govern-
ment of human creatures, Hope and Reward are strong
and elevating powers, while Fear and Punishment can at
best only restrain from crime. Hope can produce the
finest and most permanent springs of action.

We have not been able to go on with our reading for
some days. The more I live I see more and more the
misery of uncultivated minds, and the happiness of the
cultivated, when they can keep themselves free from
literary and scientific jealousies and party spirit.

TO MRS. B. BUTLEB.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, March, 1842.

I am surprised to find how much more history inter-
ests me now than when I was young, and how much
more I am now interested in the same events recorded,
and their causes and consequences shown, in this history
of the French Revolution, and in all the history of
Europe during the last quarter of a century, than I was
when the news came fresh and fresh in the newspapers.
I do not think I had sense enough to take in the rela-
tions and proportions of the events. It was like moving
a magnifying glass over the parts of a beetle, and not
taking in the whole.

TO MISS MABGABET RTTXTON (THEN RESIDING AT
HYERES).

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, April 16, 1842.

It seems such an immense time since I have heard
from you, so now I sit down to earn a letter.

And first I have to tell you that, on the 14th, between

644 MARIA EDGEWORTH [JUNE

the hours of eleven and twelve, a new cousin of yours
was brought into this world, a monstrous large boy :
Rosa doing well : house very full,1 but all as quiet as
mice. We breakfast in the study, to keep all noise from
Rosa in the plume room.

It is time to tell you that Pakenham is here, and
Fanny, and Honora, and Harriet, and Mary Anne, and
Charlotte ; and we are as happy as ever we can be.
Pakenham's tastes are all domestic, yet he has the most
perfect knowledge of business, great penetration of eye,
and cool, self-possessed manners, like one used to judg-
ment and command, yet not proud of doing either. He
has brought with him such proofs of his industry as are
quite astonishing ; such collections of drawings, both
botanical and sketches of country. How he found time
to do all this, and spend six hours per day at Cucherry
— all as one as sessions — and to write his journal of
every day for eleven years, I really cannot comprehend ;
but so it is.

TO MRS. B. BUTLER.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, June 17, 1842.

It is now five o'clock, and Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall
have not come. It is Lestock's last day, and he and
Fanny and Lucy are so busy and so happy putting the
transit instrument to rights, and setting black spotted and
yellow backed spinning spiders at work to spin for the
meridian lines. I have just succeeded in catching the
right sort by descending to the infernal regions, and set-
ting kitchen-maid and housemaid at work. I was glad

1 All the family had assembled to meet Pakenham Edgeworth on his
return, on leave, from India.

1842] TO MRS. FRANCIS BEAUFORT 645

Mr. and Mrs. Hall did not arrive just at the crisis of the
operation — all completed now.

Ask Mr. Butler if there is any subscription necessary
or expected from me, now that I have been so honorably
made an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy ?
I would not for the world omit anything that ought to be
done now that I am M. R. I. A.

July 8.

I am going literally to beg my bread and lodging at
your door on my way to Dublin, and I do so sans phrase.
I remember that, when I used to write to offer myself to
Aunt Ruxton, I regularly added, " You know, my dear
aunt, I can sleep in a drawer ; " and she used to answer,
" I know you can, my dear, and you are welcome ; but
write a day beforehand, that I may have the drawer
ready."

TO MBS. FRANCIS BEAUFOKT.

EDGEWOBTHSTOWN, October 27, 1842.

Most kind and most judiciously kind Honora, you
have written the very thing I had been thinking, as I
lay awake last night, I would write to you, but scrupled.
I certainly will take your advice, and spend my Christ-
mas at home with Pakenham, although I cannot, nor do
I wish to, fill up his feeling of the blanks in this
house. There is something mournful, yet pleasingly
painful, in the sense of the ideal presence of the long-
loved dead. Those images people and fill the mind with
unselfish thoughts and with the salutary feeling of re-
sponsibility and constant desire to be and to act in this
world as the superior friend would have wished and
approved.

There is such difficulty this season for the poor ten-

646 MARIA EDGEWOETH [DEC.

ants to make up their rents ; cattle, oats, butter, potatoes,
all things have so sunk in price. In these circumstances
it is not only humane, but absolutely necessary, that
landlords should give more time than usual. Some can-
not pay till after certain fairs in the beginning of
November — that I must have stayed for, at all events.
Indeed, they have shown so much consideration for me,
and striven so to make up the money that they might
not detain me, that I should be a brute and a tyrant if
I did not do all I could on my part to accommodate
them.

TO MKS. B. BUTLER.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, December, 1842.

Mrs. Hall has sent to me her last number, in which
she gives Edgeworthstown. All the world here are
pleased with it, and so am I. I like the way in which
she has mentioned my father particularly. There is an
evident kindness of heart, and care to avoid everything
that could hurt any of our feelings, and at the same time
a warmth of affectionate feeling unaffectedly expressed,
that we all like it, in spite of our dislike to " that sort
of thing."

Mrs. S. C. Hall's is perhaps the best picture extant of
the family life at Edgeworthstown. She says : —

Our principal object, in Longford County, was to visit
Edgeworthstown, and to spend some time in the society
of Miss Edgeworth. We entered the neat, nice, and
pretty town at evening ; all around us bore — as we had
anticipated — the aspect of comfort, cheerfulness, good
order, prosperity, and their concomitant, contentment.

1842] MARIA EDGEWORTH 647

There was no mistaking the fact that we were in the
neighborhood of a resident Irish family, with minds to
devise, and hands to effect improvement everywhere
within reach of their control.

Edgeworthstown may almost be regarded as public
property. From this mansion has emanated so much
practical good to Ireland, and not alone to Ireland, but
the civilized world. . . . The demesne is judiciously and
abundantly planted, and the dwelling-house of Edge-
worthstown is large and commodious. We drove up the
avenue at evening. It was cheerful to see the lights
sparkle through the windows, and to feel the cold nose
of the house-dog thrust into our hands as an earnest of
welcome ; it was pleasant to receive the warm greeting
of Mrs. Edgeworth, and it was a high privilege to meet
Miss Edgeworth in the library, the very room in which
had been written the works that redeemed a character
for Ireland, and have so largely promoted the truest wel-
fare of human-kind. We had not seen her for some
years — except for a few brief moments — and rejoiced
to find her in nothing changed ; her voice as light and
happy, her laughter as full of gentle mirth, her eyes as
bright and truthful, and her countenance as expressive of
goodness and loving kindness, as they have ever been.

Edgeworthstown was, and is, a large country mansion,
to which additions have been from time to time made,
but made judiciously. An avenue of venerable trees
leads to it from the public road. It is distant about
seven miles from the town of Longford. The only room
I need specially refer to is the library ; it belonged more
peculiarly to Maria, although the general sitting-room of
the family. It was the room in which she did nearly

648 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1842

all her work ; not only that which was to gratify and
instruct the world, but that which, in a measure, regu-
lated the household — the domestic duties that were sub-
jects of her continual thought : for the desk at which
she usually sat was never without memoranda of matters
from which she might have pleaded a right to be held
exempt. It is by no means a stately, solitary room, but
large, spacious, and lofty, well stored with books, and
furnished with suggestive engravings. Seen through the
window is the lawn, embellished by groups of trees. If
you look at the oblong table in the centre, you will see
the rallying-point of the family, who are usually around
it, reading, writing, or working ; while Miss Edgeworth,
only anxious that the inmates of the house shall each do
exactly as he or she pleases, sits in her own peculiar cor-
ner on the sofa ; a pen, given her by Sir Walter Scott
while a guest at Edgeworthstown (in 1825), is placed
before her on a little, quaint, unassuming table, con-
structed and added to, for convenience. She had a sin-
gular power of abstraction, apparently hearing all that
was said, and occasionally taking part in the conversa-
tion, while pursuing her own occupation, and seemingly
attending only to it. In that corner, and on that table,
she had written nearly all her works. Now and then
she would rise and leave the room, perhaps to procure a
toy for one of the children, to mount the ladder and
bring down a book that could explain or illustrate some
topic on which some one was conversing ; immediately
she would resume her pen, and continue to write as if
the thought had been unbroken for an instant. I ex-
pressed to Mrs. Edgeworth surprise at this faculty, so
opposed to my own habit. "Maria," she said, "was

1842] MARIA EDGEWORTH 649

always the same ; her mind was so rightly balanced,
everything so honestly weighed, that she suffered no
inconvenience from what would disturb and distract an
ordinary writer."

She was an early riser, and had much work done
before breakfast. Every morning during our stay at
Edgeworthstown she had gathered a bouquet of roses,
which she placed beside my plate on the table, while she
was always careful to refresh the vase that stood in our
chamber ; and she invariably examined my feet after a
walk, to see that damp had not induced danger ; popping
in and out of our room with some kind inquiry, some
thoughtful suggestion, or to show some object that she
knew would give pleasure. Maria Edgeworth never
seemed weary of thought that could make those about
her happy.

A wet day was a " godsend " to us. She would enter
our sitting-room and converse freely of persons whose
names are histories ; and once she brought us a large box
full of letters — her correspondence with many great
men and women, extending over more than fifty years, —
authors, artists, men of science, social reformers, states-
men, of all the countries of Europe, and especially of
America, a country of which she spoke and wrote in
terms of the highest respect and affection.

Although we had known Miss Edgeworth in London, it
will be readily understood how much more to advantage
she was seen in her own house ; she was the very gen-
tlest of lions, the most unexacting, apparently the least
conscious of her right to prominence. In London she
did not reject, yet she seemed averse to the homage
accorded her. At home she was emphatically at home !

650 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1842

In person she was very small — she was " lost in a
crowd ! " Her face was pale and thin, her features irreg-
ular ; they may have been considered plain, even in
youth, hut her expression was so benevolent, her man-
ners were so perfectly well-bred, partaking of English
dignity and Irish frankness, that one never thought of
her with reference either to beauty or plainness. She
ever occupied, without claiming attention, charming con-
tinually by her singularly pleasant voice, while the ear-
nestness and truth that beamed from her bright blue —
very blue — eyes increased the value of every word she
uttered. She knew how to listen as well as to talk, and
gathered information in a manner highly complimentary
to those from whom she sought it ; her attention seemed
far more the effect of respect than of curiosity. Her
sentences were frequently epigrammatic ; she more than
once suggested to me the story of the good fairy from
whose lips dropped diamonds and pearls whenever they
were opened. She was ever neat and particular in her
dress; her feet and hands were so delicate and small
as to be almost childlike. In a word, Maria Edgeworth
was one of those women who do not seem to require
beauty.

Miss Edgeworth has been called " cold ; " but those
who have so deemed her have never seen, as I have, the
tears gather in her eyes at a tale of suffering or sorrow,
nor heard the genuine, hearty laugh that followed the
relation of a pleasant story. Never, so long as I live,
can I forget the evenings spent in her library in the
midst of a family highly educated and self-thinking, in
conversation unrestrained, yet pregnant with instructive
thought.

1843] TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON 651

In January, 1843, Miss Edgeworth was dangerously
ill with a fever. Afterwards she wrote to a friend : —

And, now that it is over, I thank God not only for
my recovery, but for my illness. In very truth, and
without the least exaggeration or affectation or senti-
ment, I declare that, on the whole, my illness was a
source of more pleasure than pain to me, and that I
would willingly go through all the fever and weakness
to have the delight of the feelings of warm affection,
and the consequent unspeakable sensations of gratitude.
When I felt that it was more than probable that I
should not recover, with a pulse above a hundred and
twenty, and at the entrance of my seventy-sixth year, I
was not alarmed. I felt ready to rise tranquil from the
banquet of life, where I had been a happy guest ; I con-
fidently relied on the goodness of my Creator.

TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON ; AT HYERES.

TKIM, March 20, 1843.

Thank you, thank you, my dear Margaret, for all your
anxiety about me.1 I am strengthening. We have no
news or events ; we live very happily here. On Friday
last, being St. Patrick's Day, there were great doings
here, and not drunken doings, not drowning the sham-
rock in whiskey, but honoring the shamrock with tem-
perance rejoicings and music, that maketh the heart glad
without making the head giddy or raising the hand
against law or fellow creatures. Leave was asked by
the Temperance Band and company to come into Mr.
Butler's lawn to play a tune or two, as they were
1 In her severe illness during January.

652 MARIA EDGE WORTH [MARCH

pleased to express it, for Miss Edgeworth. The gates
were thrown open, and in came the band, a brass band,
with glittering horns, etc., preceded by Priest Halligan,
whom you may recollect, in a blue and white scarf
floating graceful, and a standard flag in his hand. A
numerous crowd of men, women, and children came
flocking after, kept in order by some Temperance So-
ciety staff officers with blue ensigns.

I, an invalid, was not permitted to go out to welcome
them, but I stood at my own window, which I threw
open, and thanked them as loud as I could, and curt-
sied as low as my littleness and my weakness would
allow, and was bowed to as low as saddle-bow by priests
on horseback and musicians and audience on foot : Har-
riet on the steps welcoming and sympathizing with these
poor people ; and delightful it was to see Mr. Butler,
bareheaded, shaking hands with the priest, who almost
threw himself from his horse to give him his hand.

Mr. Tuite, that dear good old gentleman, died a few
days ago at Sonna, in his ninety-seventh year ; his good
son, in his note to my mother, announcing the event,
says, " It is a comfort to think that to the very last he
had all the comfort, spiritual and earthly, that he could
need or desire."

Miss Bremer, of Stockholm, has published a novel,
translated by Mary Howitt, which is one of the most
interesting, new, and truly original books I have seen
this quarter century. Its title does not do it justice,
" Our Neighbors : " which might lead you to expect a
gossiping book, or at best something like " Annals of
my Parish " — tout au contraire / it is sketches of
family life, a romantic family, admirably drawn — some

1843] TO MISS BANNATYNE 653

characters perhaps a little overstrained, but in the con-
vulsions of the overstraining giving evidence of great
strength. Beg, buy, or borrow it, if you can, and if
not, envy us who have it.

Envy us, also, "La Vie du Grand Conde," written in
French, by Lord Mahon, not published, only a hundred
copies struck off, and he has honored me with a present
of a copy. Of the style and correctness of the French
I am not so presumptuous as to pretend to be a compe-
tent judge, but I can say that in reading it I quite for-
got it was by an Englishman, and never stopped to
consider this or that expression, and I wish, dear Mar-
garet, that you had the satisfaction of reading this most
interesting, entertaining book.

Dickens's " America " is a failure ; never trouble
yourself to read it ; nevertheless, though the book is
good for little, it gives me the conviction that the man
is good for much more than I gave him credit for; a
real desire for the improvement of the lower classes, and
this reality of feeling is, I take it, the secret, joined to
his great power of humor, of his ascendant popularity.

TO MISS BANNATYNE.

TRIM, April, 1843.

I am eager, with my own hand, to assure you that I
am quite recovered. I have been so nursed and tended
by all my friends that I really can think of nothing but
myself ; nevertheless, I am sometimes able to think of
other things and persons. During my convalescence
Harriet has read to me many entertaining and interest-
ing books : none to me so interesting, so charming, as
the Life and Letters of your countryman, that honor to

654 MAEIA EDGEWORTH UPEIL

your country and to all Britain, and to human nature —
Francis Homer : a more noble, disinterested character
could not be; in the midst of temptations with such
firm integrity, in the midst of party spirit as much
superior to its influence as mortal man could be ! and if
sympathy with his friends, and the sense that public
men must pull together to effect any purpose may, as
Lord Webb Seymour asserts, have swayed Homer, or
biased him a little from his original theoretic course,
still it never was from any selfish or in the slightest
degree corrupt or unworthy motive. I much admire
Lord Webb Seymour's letter to Homer, and not less
Homer's candid, honest, and temperate answer. What
friends he made for himself of the best and most able
of the land, not only admired, but trusted and consulted
by them all, and not only trusted and consulted, but
beloved. This book really makes one think better of
human nature. Of all his friends I think more highly
than I ever thought or knew before I read his letters to
them and theirs to him. There never was such a
unanimous tribute to integrity in a statesman as was
paid to Homer by the British Senate at his death: I
remember it at the time, and I am glad to see it re-
corded in this book. It will waken or keep alive the
spirit of public and private virtue in many a youthful
mind. I see with pleasure your father's name in the
book, and the names and characters of many of our dear
Scotch friends. My head and heart are so full of it that
I really know not how to stop in speaking of it.

I am just going to write to Lady Lansdowne how
much I was delighted by seeing her and Lord Henry
Petty, but especially herself, mentioned exactly in the

1843] TO MISS BANNATYNE 655

manner in which I thought of her and of him, when we
first became acquainted with them, which was just at the
very time of which Mr. Homer speaks. Lady Lans-
downe gave me a drawing of Little Bounds, which is
now hanging up in our library unfaded. It is a gratifi-
cation to me to feel that I appreciated both her talents
and her character as Homer did, before all the world
found out that she was a SUPERIOR person.

My brother Pakenham was delighted with his tour
in Scotland, and with his renewal of personal intercourse
with his dear Scotch friends : all steady as Scotch
friends ever are, and kind and warm — the warmth once
raised in them never cooling — anthracite coal — layer
after layer, hot to the very inside kernel. Pakenham
is now in London with my sisters Fanny and Honora —
Fanny has wonderfully recovered her health. She has
several Scotch friends in London, of whom she is very
fond, from Joanna Baillie to her young friends, Mrs.
Andrews and her sisters. Mr. Andrews is a very agree-
able, sensible, conversable man ; I saw something of
him when I was last in London, and hope to see more
when I return there. If I continue as well as I am
now, I intend, please God, to make my promised visit to
London some time this autumn, when the hurly-burly
of the fashionable season is over.

While at Trim, Maria received the announcement of
her youngest sister Lucy's engagement to Dr. Robinson,
which gave her exquisite pleasure : " never," as she
wrote at the time, " never was a marriage hailed with
more family acclaim of universal joy." The marriage
took place on June 8.

656 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Auo.

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, August 1, 1843.

I have just wakened and risen from the sofa rejoicing,
like a dwarf, " to run my course." I was put to sleep,
not by magnetism, but by the agreeable buzz of dear
Pakenham's voice reading out a man's peregrinations
from Egypt to Australia — " the way was long, the road
was dark," and the reader declares I was asleep before
we got to Egypt.

Mr. Maltby is wondrous tall, and Pakenham has had
the diversion long-looked-for of seeing "Maltby hand
Maria in to dinner." Mr. Maltby is a very gentleman-
like man, every inch of him, many as they are, and very
conversable — really conversable, he both hears and
talks, and follows and leads.

TO MRS. BEAUFORT.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, September 14, 1843.
" Choisissez, mon enfant, mais prenez du veau."
Choose, my dear Honora, whichever pattern you please,
but take this which I inclose. We have had a very
pleasant visit to Newcastle, where we met Mr. and Mrs.
Hamilton Gray, and I liked both very much. I thought
her perfectly unpretending and unaffected : slight figure,
a delicate woman, pretty dark hair and dark eyes, and
pleasing expression of countenance. I never should
have suspected her of being so learned or so laborious
and persevering as she is.

In November, 1843, Miss Edgeworth went to London,

1843] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 657

and spent the winter with her sister Fanny, Mrs.
Wilson.

TO MRS. E. BUTLER.
NORTH AUDLKY STREET, December 3, 1843.

We dined at Dr. Lushington's last Thursday — the
dinner was very merry and good-humored. Mr. Eich-
ardson was there, and delighted I was to see him, and
he talked so affectionately of Sir Walter and auld lang
syne times ; and Mr. Bentham, the hotanist, too, was
there, Pakenham's friend, a very agreeable man. After
dinner too was to me very entertaining, for I found
that a lady, introduced to me as Mrs. Hawse, was
daughter to Brunei, and she told me all the truth of her
brother and the half-guinea in his throat, and the incis-
ion in his windpipe, and his coughing it up at last, and
Brodie seeing and snatching it from between his teeth,
and driving all over London to show it.

And now we are going to tea at Dr. Holland's.

Monday morning.

That we had a very pleasant evening I need scarcely
say, but to Boswell Sydney Smith would out-Boswell
Boswell. He talked of course of Ireland and the priests,
and I gave good and I trust true testimony to their
being — before they took to politics — excellent parish
priests, and he talked of Bishop Higgins and Repeal
agitations, and I told him of " Don't be anticipating,"
and laughing at brogue (how easy !) led him to tell me
of a conversation of his with Bishop Doyle in former
days — beginning with " My lord," propitiously and
propitiatingly, " My lord, don't you think it would be a
good plan to have your clergy paid by the State ? "

658 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1843

Bishop Doyle assured him it would never be accepted.

" But, suppose every one of your clergy found £150
lodged in the bank for them, and at five per cent, for
arrears ? "

" Ah ! Mr. Smith, you have a way of putting
things ! "

Sydney Smith, on his side, was enchanted with Maria
Edgeworth — " Miss Edgeworth was delightful, so clever
and sensible. She does not say witty things, but there
is such a perfume of wit runs through all her conversa-
tion as makes it very brilliant."

TO MBS. K. BUTLEK.

Christmas Day.

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
With the addition which Lestock has just been telling
to Waller —

"With your pockets full of money and your cellars full of beer."

Yesterday, Sunday, your kind friends, the Andrewses,
took Waller with us to the Temple church — it has
been, you know, all new painted and dressed since I saw
it last, and the knights in dark bronze-colored marble
repaired. The tiled floor is too new, not like Mr. But-
ler's most respectable reverend old tiles. Mr. Andrews
took us all over the church after service, and in particu-
lar pointed out one old window of painted glass, in
which the bright red color is so bright in such full fresh-
ness as is inimitable in modern art.

We went from church to luncheon at Mrs. An-
dre ws's, and such a luncheon ! I refrain from a whole

1844] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 659

page which might be spent on it. Then Mrs. Andrews
took Waller and me a drive three times round the park,
a most pleasant drive in such a bright sunshiny day. So
many happy little children under the trees and on the
pathway.

TO MRS. EDGEWORTH.

1 NORTH AUDLET STREET, January, 1844.

Thank you, and pray do you thank for me all the
dear, kind brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces all
round you, their centre and spring of good, for all the
pleasure they, on my seventy-seventh birthday, from
Barry's to dear little Mary's, all gave me — pleasure
such as cannot be bought for money. Who would not
like to live to be old if they could be so happy in friends
as I am ? I cannot help inclosing to you Lucy's and
Dr. Robinson's greeting, as you will feel with me the
pleasure both gave me.

Dumb Francis was here on that happy first of Janu-
ary and assured me on his slate that he was very happy
and grateful. I never see him without my Francis's
sonnet repeating itself, " The soul of honor," etc.

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.
1 NORTH AUDLET STREET, January 5, 1844.
I have been reading and am reading Bentham's " Me-
moirs ; " he could write plain English before he invented
his strange lingo, and the accounts of his childhood and
youth are exceedingly entertaining. Fanny reads to us
at night, much to Waller's interest and entertainment,
Lieutenant Eyre's account of that horrid Cabul expedi-
tion — what a disgrace to the British arms and name in

660 MAKIA EDGEWORTH

India. Mr. Pakenham and his nice wife came in while
I was writing this, and when I asked him if the prestige
of British superiority would be destroyed in India, he
said, " No : we have redeemed ourselves so nobly."

Waller is occupied every spare moment perfecting a
Leyden phial, coated and chained properly, and giving
quite large and grand sparks and pretty sharp shocks.

TO MBS. EDGEWORTH.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET, January, 1844.

The day before yesterday Fanny and I walked to see
Mrs. Napier, all in black for Lady Clare — the sudden-
ness of whose death, scarcely a moment's interval be-
tween the bright flash of life and the dark silence of
death, was most striking and awful.

Yesterday we went to see dear Lady Elizabeth Whit-
bread, all as it used to be, beautiful camellias, but she herself
so sad — Miss Grant is dying. Nothing can surpass her
true tenderness to this faithful, gentle, sincere old friend.
All these illnesses and deaths are the more striking I
think in a bustling capital city, than they would be in
the country surrounded by one's family. There is some-
thing shocking in seeing the bustling, struggling crowd
who care nothing for one another dead or alive; and
they may say, so much the better, we are spared unavail-
ing thought and anguish, and yet I would rather have
the thought and even the anguish — for without pain
there is no pleasure for the heart : no prayer for Indif-
ference for me ! Every memento mori comes with some
force to me at seventy-seven, and I do pray most ear-
nestly and devoutly to God, as my father did before me,
that my body may not survive my mind, and that I may

1844] TO MKS. EDGEWORTH 661

leave a tender not unpleasing recollection in their
hearts.

Though I have written this, my dear mother, and feel
it truly, I am not the least melancholy, or apprehensive
or afraid of dying, and as to the rest I am truly resigned,
and trust to the goodness of my Creator, living or dying.

January 13.

Thursday evening at Rogers' s — the party was made
for us and as small as possible, Lady Charlotte Lindsay,
Lady Davy, Mr. and Mrs. Empson, and Mr. Compton
and Lord Northampton. Mr. Empson is very little
altered in twelve years : the same affectionate heart and
the same excellent head. Lord Northampton is very
conversable; and Mr. Compton brought me sugared
words from troops of children.

Half-past six p. M.

Just returned from Mrs. Drummond's — beautiful
house and two pretty children — and we went to see
Anna Carr's beautiful drawings of Ceylon, and no time

for more.

February 1.

Miss Fox's illness detained Lord and Lady Lansdowne
at Bo wood — she is rather better. We went to Lans-
downe House yesterday, and saw Lady Shelburne for the
first time, handsome, and very amiable in countenance.
Lady Louisa was most charming in her attention to me,
and she has a most sensible, deep-thinking face.

February 2.

Snowing and fogging, as white and as dark and dis-
agreeable as ever it can be. Thank Heaven, to-day was

662 MARIA EDGEWORTH [FEB.

not yesterday, which was dry, "bright sunshine, on pur-
pose to grace the Queen, and to pleasure us three in par-
ticular. Fanny ended yesterday hy telling you how
fortunate, or rather how kind, people had heen in work-
ing out three tickets for me, at the last hour, at the last
moment ; for Lord Lovelace came himself between eleven
and twelve at night with a ticket, which he gave me, at
Lady Byron's request. You may guess how happy I
was to have the third ticket for Honora, and we were all
full dressed, punctual to the minute, in Fanny's car-
riage, and with my new-dressed opossum cloak covering
our knees, as warm as young toasts.

I spare you all that you will see in the newspapers.
The first view of the House did not strike me as so grand
as the old House, but my mouth was stopped by " Pro
tempore only, you know." We went up an ignomini-
ously small staircase, and the man at the bottom, pite-
ously perspiring, cried out, " On, on, ladies ! don't stop
the way ! room enough above ! " But there was one
objection to going on, that there were no seats above :
however, we made ourselves small — no great difficulty
— and, taking to the wall, we left a scarcely practicable
pass for those who, less wary and more obedient than
ourselves, went up one by one to the highmost void.
Fanny feared for me that I should never be able to
stand it, when somehow or another my name was pro-
nounced and heard by one of the Miss Southebys, who
stretched her cordial hand. " Glad — proud — glad —
we '11 squeeze — we '11 make room for you between me
and my friend Miss Fitzhugh ; " and so I was bodkin,
but never touched the bench till long after. I cast a
lingering look at my deserted sisters twain. " No, no,

1844] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 663

we can't do that ! " so, that hope killed off, I took to
make the hest of my own selfish position, and surveyed
all beneath me, from the black heads of the reporter
gentlemen, with their pencils and papers before them in
the form and desk immediately below me, to the depths
of the hall, in all its long extent ; and sprawling and
stretching in the midst — with the feathered and lap-
peted and jeweled peeresses on their right, and their
foreign excellencies on the left — were the long-robed,
ermined judges, laying their wigs together and shaking
hands, their wigs' many-curled tails shaking on their
backs. And the wigs jointly and severally looked like
so many vast white and gray birds'-nests from Brobding-
nag, with a black hole at the top of each, for the birds
to creep out or in. More and more scarlet-ermined dig-
nitaries and nobles swarmed into the hall, and then, in
at the scarlet door, came, with white ribbon shoulder-
knots and streamers flying in all directions, a broad scar-
let five-row-ermined figure, with high, bald forehead,
facetious face, and jovial, hail-fellow-well-met counte-
nance, princely withal, H. E. H. the Duke of Cambridge,
and the sidelong peeress benches stretched their fair
hands, and he his ungloved royal hand hastily here and
there and everywhere, and chattering so loud and long,
that even the remote gallery could hear the " Ha, ha,
haw ! " which followed ever and anon ; and we blessed
ourselves, and thought we should never hear the Queen ;
but I was told he would be silent when the Queen came,
and so it proved.

The guns were heard : once, twice, and at the second
all were silent : even His Royal Highness of Cambridge
ceased to rustle and flutter, and stood nobly still.

664 MARIA EDGEWOETH [FEB.

Enter the crown and cushion and sword of state and
mace — the Queen, leaning on Prince Albert's arm. She
did not go up the steps to the throne well — caught her
foot and stumbled against the edge of the footstool, which
was too high. She did not seat herself in a decided,
queenlike manner, and after sitting down pottered too
much with her drapery, arranging her petticoats. That
footstool was much too high ! her knees were crumpled
up, and her figure, short enough already, was foreshort-
ened as she sat, and her drapery did not come to the
edge of the stool : as my neighbor Miss Fitzhugh whis-
pered, " Bad effect." However and nevertheless, the
better half of her looked perfectly ladylike and queen-
like ; her head finely shaped, and well held on her shoul-
ders with her likeness of a kingly crown, that diadem of
diamonds. Beautifully fair the neck and arms ; and the
arms moved gracefully, and never too much. I could
not at that distance judge of her countenance, but I
heard people on the bench near me saying that she
looked " divinely gracious."

Dead silence : more of majesty implied in that silence
than in all the magnificence around. She spoke, low and
well : " My lords and gentlemen, be seated." Then she
received from the lord-in-waiting her speech, and read :
her voice, perfectly distinct and clear, was heard by us
ultimate auditors ; it was not quite so fine a voice as I had
been taught to expect ; it had not the full rich tones nor
the varied powers and inflections of a perfect voice. She
read with good sense, as if she perfectly understood, but
did not fully or warmly feel, what she was reading. It
was more a girl's well-read lesson than a Queen pro-
nouncing her speech. She did not lay emphasis sum-

1844] TO MRS. EDGE WORTH 665

cient to mark the gradations of importance in the subjects,
and she did not make pauses enough. The best pro-
nounced paragraphs were those about France and Ireland,
her firm determination to preserve inviolate the legisla-
tive union ; and " I am resolved to act in strict conform-
ity with this declaration " she pronounced strongly and
well. She showed less confidence in reading about the
suspension of the elective franchise, and in the conclu-
sion, emphasis and soul were wanting, when they were
called for, when she said, " In full confidence of your
loyalty and wisdom, and with an earnest prayer to
Almighty God," etc.

Her Majesty's exit I was much pleased to look at, it
was so graceful and so gracious. She took time enough
for all her motions, noticing all properly, from " my dear
uncle " — words I distinctly heard as she passed the
Duke of Cambridge — to the last expectant fair one at
the doorway. The Queen vanished : buzz, noise, the
clatter rose, and all were in commotion, and the tide of
scarlet and ermine flowed and ebbed ; and after an im-
mense time the throngs of people, bonneted and shawled,
came forth from all the side niches and windows, and
down from the upper galleries, and then places unknown
gave up their occupants, and all the outward halls were
filled with the living mass : as we looked down upon
them from the back antechamber, one sea of heads. We
sat down on a side seat with Mrs. Hamilton Grey and
her sister, and we made ourselves happy criticising or
eulogizing all that passed down the centre aisle : not the
least chance of getting to our carriage for an hour to
come. One of the blue and silver officials of the House,
at a turn in one of the passages, had loudly pronounced,

666 MARIA EDGEWORTH [FEB.

pointing, rod in hand, to an outer vestibule and steps,
" All who are not waiting for carriages, this way, be
pleased ; " and vast numbers, ill pleased, were forced to
make their exit. We went farther and fared worse.
While we were waiting in purgatory, several angelic
wigs passed that way who noticed me, most solemnly,
albeit cordially : my Lord Chief Justice Tindal, Baron
Alderson, Mr. Justice Erskine, the Bishop of London —
very warm indeed ; had never cooled since I had met
him the night before at Sir Robert Inglis's.

Harriet de Salis, very well dressed and very unaffected
and warm-hearted, actually left her chaperon, and sat
down on the steps, and talked and laughed the heart's
laugh. Honora and Fanny had gone on a voyage of dis-
covery through the sea of heads, and had found that
most excellent and sensible John stuck close to the door ;
but as to getting the carriage up, impracticable. We
had only to wait and be ready instantly, as it would
have to drive off as soon as called. Workmen, bawling
to one another, were hauling and hoisting out all the
peeresses' benches, stripped of their scarlet ; and the
short and the very long of it is that we did at last hear
" Mrs. Wilson's carriage," and in we ran, and took Mrs.
Hamilton Grey in too : Fanny sat on Honora's lap,
and all was right and happy ; and even little I not at all
tired.

When I had got thus far, Sir Thomas Acland came
in ; I had met him at Sir Robert Inglis's. He was full
of Edgeworthstown and your kindness to him, my dear
mother. He repeated to me all the good advice he re-
ceived from you forty years ago, and says that you made
him see Ireland, and have common sense. You put him

1844] TO MES. E. BUTLEE 667

in the way, and he has made his way. He is very good,
very enthusiastic, and wonderfully fond of me and of
" Castle Kackrent."

TO MRS. B. SUTLER.

WARFIELD LODGE, April 3, 1844.

I am so glad I came here, and I am so glad I have my
own dear Fanny with me ; and she was rewarded for
coming by Miss O'Beirne's most cordial reception of her
— so kindly well-bred. Dear Miss Wren ! for dear she
has always been to me for her own merits, which are
great, and from her perfect love for Mrs. O'Beirne, in
which I sympathize.

I am as well as I am happy, and not the least tired,
thank you, my dear ma'am, after having seen and heard
and done enough yesterday morning to have tired a
young body of seventeen, instead of one in her seventy-
eighth year.

We went a charming drive through this smiling, well-
wooded, well-cottaged country, to the Malcolms : met
Colonel Malcolm and his eldest sister Olympia on horse-
back at the door, just returned from their ride, and
straight Fanny fell in love with Olympia's horse —
" such a beautiful animal ! " But I care much more for the
Colonel ! charming, indeed, unaffected, polite, and kind.
Never had I so kind a reception ! and if I were to give
you a catalogue raisonne of all we saw in their rich
and rare as well as happy home, it would reach from
this to Trim.

668 MARIA EDGEWORTH [APRIL

TO MBS. EDGEWORTH.

COLLINGWOOD, April 8, 1844.

Fine sunshiny day, and from my window I see a beau-
tiful lawn, and two children rolling on the grass, and
I hear their happy voices and their father's with them.
I should have told you that on Friday Lestock took me
and Emmeline, and Emmeline Gibbons and her little girl,
to the Zoological Gardens, and we all were mightily de-
lighted ; but of the beasts and birds when I return.

Here are Lord and Lady Adair — she is grateful to
Sophy Palmer for her kindness when she was ill at Ox-
ford — and Sir Edward Ryan, and one whom I was
right glad to meet, " Jones on Kent ; " and I have
attacked, plagued, and gratified him by urging him to
write a new volume. Jones and Herschel are very fond
of one another, often differing, but always agreeing to
differ, like Malthus and Ricardo, who hunted together in
search of Truth, and huzzaed when they found her, with-
out caring who found her first : indeed, I have seen
them both put their able hands to the windlass to drag
her up from the bottom of that well in which she so
strangely delights to dwell.

I must go back to the 23d, which was a full and
well-filled day. In the morning Rogers kindly deter-
mined to catch us : came before luncheon-time, and was
very agreeable and very good-natured about a drawing I
showed to him by a niece of Mrs. Holland's, a young
girl of fifteen, who has really an inventive genius. I
suggested to her, among the poems it is now the fashion
to illustrate, Parnell's fairy tale ! she has sketched the
first scene — the old castle, lighted up : fairies dancing

1844] TO MRS. EDGEWORTH 669

in the hall : Edwin crouching in the corner. Rogers
praised it so warmly, that I regretted the girl could not
hear him ; it would so encourage her. He got up, dear,
good-natured old man, from his chair as I spoke, and
went immediately to Lower Brook Street with the draw-
ing to the young lady.

Luncheon over, we drove to the city, to see an old
gentleman of ninety-three, Mr. Vaughan, whom I am
sure you remember so kindly showing the London Docks
to us in 1813, with his understanding and all his facul-
ties as clear and as fresh now as they were then ; and
after returning from Mr. Vaughan's, we went to the
bazaar, where I wanted to buy a churn, and other toys
that shall be nameless, for the children ; and after all
this I lay down and slept for three quarters of an hour,
before time to dress for dinner. This dinner was at
Lambeth : arrived exactly in time : found Mrs. Howley
ready in her beautiful drawing-room, and I had the pleas-
ure of five minutes' conversation alone with her.
Oddly, it came out that she had a fine picture in the
room, given to her by Mr. Legge, who inherited Aston
Hall, which Mr. Legge I used to hear of continually
ages ago as a sort of bugbear, being the heir-at-law to Sir
Thomas Holte and Lady Holte's property. " Very
natural they could never bear the name of Legge," said
Mrs. Howley, " but he was my relative and excellent
friend ; " and she pointed to an inscription in grateful
honor of him under the picture. How oddly connec-
tions come out, and between people one should never
have thought had heard of each other, and at such dis-
tant times.

This dinner and evening at Lambeth proved very

670 MARIA EDGEWOETII [APRIL

agreeable to me. At the dinner were Mr. and Mrs.
Hamilton Grey, Dean Milman, the Bishop of Lichfield,
Sir Thomas Sinclair, and some others whose names I
do not remember — fourteen altogether. I was on
the Archbishop's right hand, Mrs. Hamilton Grey on
his left. Dear, simple, dignified, yet playful Arch-
bishop, who talked well of all things, from nursery
rhymes to deep metaphysics and physics. Apropos to
dreams and acting in character in the strangest circum-
stances, I mentioned Dr. Holland's "Medical Notes,"
and the admirable chapter on Eeverie and Dreaming.
He had not seen the book, but seemed interested, and
said he would read it directly — a great pleasure to
me (goose !'). I must not go further into the- conver-
sation with Milman, and the Archbishop's remarks upon
Coleridge ; it was all very agreeable, and — early hours
being the order of the day and night there — I came
away at ten ; and as I drew up the glass, and was
about to draw up Steele's opossum cloak, I felt a
slight resistance — Fanny ! dear, kind Fanny, so un-
expected, come in the carriage for me ; and a most
delightful drive we had home.

1 NORTH AUDLEY STREET, April 15.

" Slip on, for Time 's Time ! " said a man, coming
forth with a pipe in his mouth from an inn door,
exhorting men and horses of railroad omnibus. " Slip
on, Time 's Time ! " I have been saying to myself
continually ; and now I am coming to the last gasp,
and Time slips so fast, that Time is not Time — in
fact, there 's no Time.

Rosa's note to Fanny about glass shall be attended

1844] TO MRS. EDGE WORTH 671

to, and I shall paste on the outside, " GLASS — NOT
TO BE THROWN DOWN ; " for Lord Adair had a bag
thrown down the other day by reckless railway porters,
in which was a bottle of sulphuric acid, which, breaking
and spilling, stained, spoiled, and burned his Lordship's
best pantaloons. I have packed up my bottles with
such elastic skill, that I trust my petticoats will not
share that sad fate.

Miss Edgeworth now left London for the last time.
This was her last visit to her happy London home in
North Audley Street, and in this last visit she had
enjoyed much with all the freshness of youth, though
the health of her sister and hostess often caused her
anxiety. Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, who had been a fre-
quent visitor, writes l : —

"To have repeatedly met and listened to Miss Edge-
worth, seated familiarly with her by the fireside, may
seem to her admirers in America a sufficient payment
for the hazards of crossing the Atlantic. Her con-
versation, like her writings, is varied, vivacious, and
delightful. Her forgetfulness of self and happiness
in making others happy are marked traits in her char-
acter. Her person is small and delicately proportioned,
and her movements full of animation. The ill health of
the lovely sister, much younger than herself, at whose
house in London she was passing the winter, called
forth such deep anxiety, untiring attention, and fer-
vent gratitude for every favorable symptom, as seemed
to blend features of maternal tenderness with sisterly
affection."

l Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Landt, by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
(1791-1865).

672 MARIA EDGEWORTH [MAY

MARIA TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

EDGEWOETHSTOWN, May 2, 1844.

Not the least tired with my journey. Francis read
to me indefatigably through " Australia." * There is
an excellent anecdote of an old Scotch servant meet-
ing his master unexpectedly in Australia after many
years' absence : " I was quite dung down donnerit
when I saw the laird, I canna' conceit what dooned
me — I was raal glad to see him, but I dinna ken
hoo I couldna' speak it."

If anybody can conceive anything much more absurd
than my copying this out of a printed book of your own
which you will have back in seven days, — let them
call aloud.

" I canna' speak it " how happy I was yesterday, at
the tender, warm reception I had from your dear mother,
and all young and old.

TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON.

EDGEWOETHSTOWN, August 21, 1844.

I am right glad to look forward to the hope of seeing
you again and talking all manner of nonsense and sense,
and laughing myself and making you laugh, as I used to
do, though I am six years beyond the allotted age and
have had so many attacks of illness within the last two
years ; but I am, as Bess Fitzherbert and poor dear Sophy
used to say, like one of those pith puppets that you
knock down in vain, they always start up the same as
ever. I was particularly fortunate in my last attack of
erysipelas in all the circumstances, just having reached
1 Hood'a Letters from Australia.

1844] TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON 673

Harriet and Louisa's comfortable home, and happy in
having Harriet Butler coming to me the very day she
heard I was in this condition. Crampton had set out
for Italy the day before, but Sir Henry Marsh managed
me with skill, and let me recover slowly, as nature
requires at advanced age. I am obliged to repeat to
myself, " advanced age," because really and truly neither
my spirits nor my powers of locomotion and facility of
running up and down stairs would put me in mind of it.
I do not find either my love for my friends or my love
of literature in the least failing. I enjoyed even when
flattest in my bed hearing Harriet Butler reading to me
till eleven o'clock at night. Sir Henry Marsh pre-
scribed some book that would entertain and interest
me without straining my attention or overexciting me,
and Harriet chose Madame de SeVigne's " Letters,"
which perfectly answered all the conditions, and was
as delightful at the twentieth reading as at the first.
Such lively pictures of the times and modes of living in
country, town, and court, so interesting from their truth,
simplicity, and elegance ; the language so polished, and
not the least antiquated even at this day. Madame de
Se'vign^'s reply to Madame de Grignan, having called
Les Rochers " humide " — " Humide ! humide vous-
meme ! " I should not have thought it French ; I did
not know they had that turn of colloquial drollery.
But she has every good turn and power of expression,
and is such an amiable, affectionate, good creature,
loving the world too and the court, and all its sense
and nonsense mixed delightfully. Harriet often stopped
to say, " How like my mother ! how like Aunt Rux-
ton ! " At Trim, during the two delightfully happy

674 MARIA EDGEWORTH [Auo.

months I was there, during my convalescence and per-
fect recovery, she read to me many other books, and
often I wished that you had been as you used to be
with us, and Mr. Butler, who is very fond of you and
appreciates you, joined in the wish. One book was the
" Journal of the Nemesis," — of breathless interest,
from the great danger they were in from the splitting
of the iron vessel, and all the exertions and ingenuity
of the officers ; and Prescott's " Mexico " I found ex-
tremely interesting. After these true, or warranted true
histories, we read a novel not half so romantic or
entertaining, the " Widow Barnaby in America," and
then we tried a Swedish story, — not by Miss Bremer,
— of smugglers and murderers, and a self-devoted lady,
and an idiot boy, the best drawn and most consistent
character in the book. After — no, I believe it was
before — the " Rose of Tisleton," we read " Ellen Mid-
dleton," by Lady Georgiana Fullerton, granddaughter
of the famous Duchess-Beauty of Devonshire ; and what-
ever faults that Duchess had, she certainly had genius.
Do you recollect her lines on " William Tell " ? or do
you know Coleridge's lines to her, beginning with

" 0 lad}r nursed in pomp and pleasure,
Where learned you that heroic measure ? "

Look for them, and get " Ellen Middle ton ; " it is well
worth your reading. Lady Georgiana certainly inherits
her grandmother's genius, and there is a high-toned
morality and religious principle through the book (where
got she " that heroic measure ? ") without any cant or
ostentation : it is the same moral I intended in " Helen,"
but exemplified in much deeper and stronger colors.
This is — but you must read it yourself.

1844] TO MBS. K. BUTLER 675

TO MRS. K. BUTLER.

OBSERVATORY, ARMAGH,
September 15, 1844.

As well and as happy as the day is short — too short
here for all that is to be seen, felt, heard, and understood.
It is more delightful to me than I can express, but you
can understand how delightful it is to see Lucy so happy
and to see her mother see it all. I sleep in the same
room with her, and fine talking we have, and we care
not who hears us, we say no harm of anybody, we have
none to say.

Lucy has certainly made good use of her time and so
improved the house I should hardly have known it. In
the dining-room is a fine picture of Dr. Robinson when
a boy, full of genius and romance, seated on a rock. It
is admirable and delicious to see how well and how com-
pletely Lucy has turned her mind to all that can make
her house ard houseband, and all belonging to him, happy
and comfortable — omitting none of those smaller crea-
ture comforts which, if not essential, are very desirable
for all human creatures, learned or unlearned.

Robinson at home is not less wonderful and more
agreeable even than Robinson abroad, — his abondance
in literature equal to Mackintosh, — in science, you
know, out of sight superior to anybody. In home life
his amiable qualities and amicable temper appear to the
greatest advantage, and I cannot say too much about the
young people's kind and affectionate manner to Lucy.

The Primate 1 and the Lady Beresfords were so kind
and gracious as to come to see us ; and I have enjoyed
1 Lord John George Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh.

676 MARIA EDGEWOETH [3845

a very agreeable luncheon-dinner at Caledon. Lady
Caledon is a real person, doing a great deal of good
sensibly. Lord Caledon1 gave me a history of his life
in the backwoods of America, and gave me a piece of
pemmican, and I inclose a bit, and I hope it will not
have greased everything! and when I said that after a
youth in the backwoods it was well to have such a place
as Caledon to fall back upon, there was a glance at his
mother that spoke volumes.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, August 7, 1845.

How characteristic Joanna Baillie's letter is, so per-
fectly simple, dignified, and touching.

TO MISS MAKGAKET EUXTOIT.

August 7, 1845.

No pen or hand but my own shall answer your most
affectionate letter, my dear own Margaret, or welcome
you again to your native country — damp as it is — warm
and comfortable with good old, — and young, friends —
and young, for your young friends Mary Anne and Char-
lotte were heartily glad to see you. As to the old, I will
yield to no mortal living. In the first place is the plain
immovable fact that I am the OLDEST friend you have
living, and as to actual knowledge of you I defy any one
to match me, ever since you were an infant at Foxhall,
and through the Black Castle cottage times with dear
Sophy and all. What changes and chances, and ups
and downs, we have seen together !

1James Du Pre, third Earl of Caledon, was then unmarried. His
mother, Catherine, daughter of the third Earl of Hardwicke, lived with
him when he was in Ireland.

1846] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 677

TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON.

TKIM, March 1, 1846.

Pakenham and Christina1 arrived here in excellent
time, charmed with their kind reception at Black Castle.
From the first moment I set eyes and ears upon Christina
I liked her, — it seemed to me as if she was not a new
bride coming a stranger amongst us, but one of the
family fitting at once into her place as a part of a joining
map that had been wanting and is now happily found.

TO LADY BEAUFORT.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, May 31, 1846.

I hope, dear Honora, that the rhododendrons will not
exhaust themselves ; at this moment yours opposite the
library window are in the most beautiful profuse blow
you can conceive, and at the end of my garden inde-
scribably beautiful, and scarlet thorn beside. The peony-
tree has happily survived its removal, and is covered
with flowers.

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, June 24, 1846.

I must try your patience a bit more in a most thorny
affair — How " thorny " ?

You will never know till a box arrives by the coach;
Edward being under orders to convey it to Granard in
the gig. Why Edward ? Why in the gig ? Because
the box is too heavy for Mick Dolan or any other gos-
soon to carry. " And what can be in it ? " Wait till

l In February, Pakenham Edgeworth had married Christina, daughter
of Dr. Hugh Macpherson of Aberdeen.

678 MAKIA EDGEWOKTH [FEB.

you see, — and I hope you may only see and not feel.
Citoyenne, n'y touchez pas. Vegetable, animal, or
mineral ? Four-and-twenty questions might be spent
upon it, and you would be none the wiser.

Now to be plain, the box contains " the old-man' s-
head ; " now you know. Cacti sent to me by Sir
William Hooker ; your mother has not room for more
than two, which she kept. Thunderstorm and hail-
shower, half-past eleven.

The death of Maria Edge worth's half-brother Francis
on 12th October, 1846, was a great grief to the family.
The same autumn saw the beginning of the Irish famine.

TO MRS. R. BUTLER.

February 9, 1847.

Mr. Powell instigated me to beg some relief for the
poor from the Quaker Association in Dublin — so, much
against the grain, I penned a letter to Mr. Harvey, the
only person whose name I know on the committee, and
prayed some assistance for Mr. Powell, our vicar, to get
us over the next two months, and your mother repre-
sented to me that men and boys who can get employment
in draining especially, cannot stand the work in the wet
for want of strong shoes ; so, in for a penny, in for a
pound ; ask for a lamb, ask for a sheep. I made bould
to axe my FRIENDS for as many pairs of brogues as they
could afford, or as much leather and soles, which would
be better still, as this would enable us to set sundry
starving shoemakers to work. By return of post came a
letter to " Most respected Friend," or something better,
I forget what, and I have sent the letter to Fanny —

1847] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 679

granting £30 for food — offering a soup-boiler for eighty
gallons, if we had not one large enough, and sending
£10 for women's work ; and telling me they would lay
my shoe petition before the Clothing Committee.1

February 22.

The people are now beginning to sow, and I hope
they will accordingly reap in due course. Mr. Hinds
has laid down a good rule, not to give seed to any
tenants but those who can produce the receipt for the
last half-year's rent. Barry has been exceedingly kind
in staying with us, doing your mother all manner of
good looking after blunders in draining, etc.

March 13.

I have been working as hard as an ass to get the
pleasure of writing to you, and have not been able to
accomplish it. I have only time to say, a gentleman
from the Birmingham Belief Committee has sent me £5
for the starving Irish. How good people are ! I send
Mrs. Cruger's letter, and have written to the ladies of
America, specially, as she desires, to those of New York,
and your mother approved, and I asked for barley-seed,
which, as Mr. Powell and Gahan and your mother say,
to be of any use, must come before May — but I asked
for money as well as seed. — Sturdy beggars.

March 22.

You will see how good the Irish Americans2 have
been, and are ; I wish the rich Argosie was come.

i Leather was sent by these benevolent gentlemen, and brogues were
made for men and boys, and proved to be of the first service.

2 The Irish porters who carried the seed-corn sent from Philadelphia to
the shore for embarkation refused to be paid.

680 MARIA EDGEWORTH [APRIL

April 9.

"Oil peut-on £tre mieux qu'au sein de sa famille ? "
I. found it, my dear, exactly where I knew it was, in
Alison's "History." On Buonaparte's return from
Egypt, the Old Guard surrounding him and the band
playing this. I know Mary Anne and Charlotte have
the music. I have seen it with my eyes and heard it
with my ears ; I have it in the memory of my heart —
I have made all the use I want of it now in the new
story I am writing, and mean to publish in Chambers's
" Miscellany," and to give the proceeds to the Poor
Belief Fund.

April 26.

Having seen in the newspapers that the Australians
had sent a considerable sum for the relief of the dis-
tressed Irish, and that they had directed it to the care of
" His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin," meaning Dr.
Murray, I wrote to our Archbishop Whately, playing
upon this graceless proceeding towards him, and to the
best of my capacity, without flattery. I did what I
could to make my letter honestly pleasing to His Grace,
and I received the most prompt, polite, and to the point,
reply, assuring me that the Australians were not so
graceless in their doings as in their words, that they had
made a remittance of a considerable sum to him, and
that if I apply to the Central Relief Committee in whose
hands he placed it, he has no doubt my application will
be attended to.

This was nuts and apples to me, or, better at present,
rice and oatmeal, and I have accordingly written to " My
Lords and Gentlemen." The Archbishop, civilly, — to
show how valuable he deemed my approbation ! — has sent

1847] TO LADY BEAUFORT 681

me a corrected copy of his speech, with good new notes
and protest and preface. He says it is impossible to
conceive how ignorant the English still are of Ireland,

and how positive in their ignorance.

April 28.

Mr. Powell has received from Government £105 on
his sending up the list of subscriptions here for a hun-
dred guineas, according to their promise to give as much
as any parish subscribed towards its own relief. This
he means to lay out in bread and rice and meal — not
all in soup ; that he may encourage them to cook at
home and not be mere craving beggars.

TO LADY BEAUFORT.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, May 8, 1847.

Most heartily do I rejoice that we may hope that
you may be able to come ; I do not say come with
Fanny, for that might hurry and hazard you, but in the
days of harvest-home, if harvest-home does ever come
again to our poor country, and you will rejoice with us
in the brightened day.

I cannot answer your Admiral's question as to the
number of deaths caused by the famine. I believe that
no one can form a just estimate. In different districts
the estimates and assertions are widely different, and the
priests keep no registry. Mr. Tuite, who was here
yesterday, told us that in the House of Commons the
contradictory statements of the Irish members astonished
and grieved him, as he knew the bad effect it would
have in diminishing their credit with the English. Two
hundred and fifty thousand is the report of the police up
to April. Mr. Tuite thought a third more deaths than

682 MAKIA EDGEWOETH [MAY

usual had been in his neighborhood. My mother and
Mr. Powell say that the increase of deaths above ordinary
times has not in this parish been as much as one third.

TO MKS. R. BUTLER.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, May 19, 1847.

The fever, or whatever it is, has been, Lucy says,
dreadful about Armagh ; many gentlemen have it ; one
who exerted himself much for the poor — was distribut-
ing meal, saw a poor girl so weak, she could not hold
her apron stretched out for it ; he went and held it for
her — she was in the fever ; he went home, felt ill, had
the fever, and died.

June 7.

What magnificent convolvulus ! we had not one blown
for Fanny's birthday. Do not trouble yourself about
my cough or cold, for I am doing, and ' shall do, very
well ; and I would have had twenty times the cough for
the really exquisite pleasure I have received from Sir
Henry Marsh's letter : no such generous offer was ever
made with more politeness and good taste. In the midst
of all that may go wrong in the world there is really
much good, and so much that is honorable to our human
nature.

When Margaret is with you, if she likes to see " Or-
landino " in his present deshabille, she is welcome.1

1 This story was the first of a series edited by William Chambers. It
was practical^ "a temperance story." Speaking in it of the influence
of Father Mathew, Miss Edgeworth says: " Since the time of the Cru-
sades, never has one single voice awakened such moral energies; never
was the call of one man so universally, so promptly, so long obeyed.
Never, since the world began, were countless multitudes so influenced
and so successfully diverted by one mind to one peaceful purpose.
Never were nobler ends by nobler means attained."

1847] TO MES. R. BUTLER 683

June 11.

I am quite well, and half eaten by midges, which
proves that I have been out, standing over Mackin, cut-
ting away dead branches of laurestinus. He could not
stand it — took off hat, and rubbed with both hands all
over head and face. I wish we could put back the pro-
fuse blow of the rhododendrons, peonies, and Himalayan
poppies till Honora and Fanny come. Have you any
Himalayan poppies ? If not, remember to supply your-
self when you are here — splendid !

Of the publication of " Orlandino," written for the
benefit of the Irish Poor Belief Fund, Miss Edgeworth
wrote to Mrs. S. C. Hall : —

Chambers, as you always told me, acts very liberally.
As this was to earn a little money for our parish poor, in
the last year's distress, he most considerately gave
prompt payment. Even before publication, when the
proof-sheets were under correction, came the ready order
on the Bank of Ireland. Blessings on him ! and I hope
he will not be the worse for me. I am surely the better
for him, and so are numbers now working and eating ;
for Mrs. Edgeworth' s principle and mine is to excite the
people to work for good wages, and not, by gratis feed-
ing, to make beggars of them, and ungrateful beggars, as
the case might be.

A most touching reward for her exertions in behalf of
the Irish poor reached Miss Edgeworth from America.
The children of Boston, who had known and loved her
through her books, raised a subscription for her, and

684 MAEIA EDGEWORTH [Ocx.

sent her a hundred and fifty pounds of flour and rice.
They were simply inscribed : " To Miss Edgeworth, for
her poor." Nothing in her long life ever pleased or
gratified her more.

TO MISS MARGARET RUXTON.

EDGEWORTHSTOWN, October 27, 1847.

I have heard it said that no one should begin a letter
with I, but methinks this must be the dictum of some
hypocritical body, or of somebody who thinks more of
themselves than they dare let appear. I am so full of
my own little self, that I am confident you, my dear
Margaret, will not think the worse of me for beginning
with " I am very well ; " and I am a miracle of prudence
and a model of virtue to sick and well — with good-look-
ing after understood. So I stayed in bed yesterday
morning, and roses and myrtles and white satin ribbon
covered my bed, to tie up a bouquet for a bride, very
well wrapped up in my labada. You don't know what
a labada is : Harriet will tell you. This nosegay was to
be presented to the bride by little Mary, as Rosa was
asked to the wedding, and was to take Mary with her.
But who is the bride ? you will ask, and ask you may ;
but you will not be a bit the wiser when I tell you —
Miss Thompson. Now your heads go to Clonfin, or to
Thompsons near Dublin, or in the County of Meath.
This is one you never heard of — at Mr. Armstrong's, of
Moydow ; and she was married yesterday to the eldest
son of Baron Greene.

At the breakfast, when Mr. Armstrong was to reply
to the speech of the bridegroom, who had expressed his
gratitude to him as the uncle who had brought her up,

1847] TO MRS. R. BUTLER 685

the old man attempted to speak ; but when he rose he
could only pronounce the words, "My child."

Mary, after the breakfast, walked gracefully up to the
bride and said, " My aunt Maria begged me to present
this to you. The rose is called Maria Leonida, her own
name is Maria ; and she hopes you will be very happy."
I was delighted.

TO MRS. B. BUTLEK.

EDGEWOKTHSTOWN, October 30, 1847.

I hope the hyacinths " Maria Edgeworth " and
" Apollo," and all the blues, will not be destroyed in
their journey to you. I spent an hour yesterday doing
up dahlias for Rosa, who wrote to me from Dublin that
she was heart-sick for flowers.

I advise and earnestly recommend you to read " Grant-
ley Manor." It does not, Mr. Butler, end ill, and from
beginning to end it is good, and not stupidly good. It
is not controversial either in dialogue or story, and in
word and deed it does justice to both Churches, in the
distribution of the qualities of the dramatis personce and
the action of the story. It is beautifully written ; pa-
thetic, without the least exaggeration of feeling or affec-
tation. The characters are well contrasted ; some nobly
high-minded, generous, and firm to principle, religious
and moral without any cant ; and there are no monsters
of wickedness. I never read a more interesting story,
new, and well-developed.

November 13.

Yesterday morning I received the inclosed note from
that most conceited and not over well-bred Mons. de
Lamartine. I desired my friend Madame Belloc to use

686 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1847

her own discretion in repeating my criticisms on his
" Histoire des Girondins," but requested that she would
convey to him the thanks and admiration of our family
for the manner in which he has mentioned the Abbe*
Edgeworth, and our admiration of the beauty of the
writing of that whole passage in the work. At the same
time I regretted that he had omitted " Fils de St. Louis,"
and also that he has not mentioned the circumstance of
the crowd opening and letting the Abbe* pass in safety
immediately from the scaffold after the execution. This
it seems to me necessary to note, as part of the picture
of the times : a few days afterwards a price was set upon
his head, and hundreds were ready for the reward to
pursue and give him up. I copied this from Sneyd's
"Memoir," and the anecdote of the Abbd, when asked
at a dinner (Ministerial) in London whether he said the
words " Fils de St. Louis," etc., and his answer that he
could not recollect, his mind had been so taken up with
the event. I think Lamartine, in his note to me, turns
this unfairly ; and I feel, and I am sure so will you and
Mr. Butler, " What an egotist and what a puppy it is ! "
but ovation has turned his head.

On the 4th of February, 1848, after a very short ill-
ness, Mrs. Lestock Wilson — Fanny Edgeworth — died.
Maria survived her little more than a year. She bore
the shock without apparent injury to her health, and she
continued to employ herself with her usual benevolent
interest and sympathy in all the business and pleasures
of her family and friends; but strongly as she was
attached to all her brothers and sisters, Fanny had been
the dearest object of her love and admiration. To her

1849] MARIA EDGEWOETH 687

friend Mrs. S. C. Hall, who wrote to her as usual on 1st
January (1849), which was her birthday, she answered,
" You must not delay long in finding your way to Edge-
worthstown if you mean to see me again. Remember,
you have just congratulated me on my eighty-second
birthday." In the spring she spent some weeks at Trim,
where her sister Lucy and Dr. Robinson were with her.
She seemed unusually agitated and depressed in taking
leave of her sister Harriet and Mr. Butler, but said as
she went away, " At Whitsuntide I shall return."

Only a few weeks before her death Miss Edgeworth
wrote : —

Our pleasures in literature do not, I think, decline
with age ; last 1st of January was my eighty-second
birthday, and I think that I had as much enjoyment
from books as I ever had in my life.

In her last letter to her sister, Honora Beaufort, she
inclosed the lines : —

Ireland, with all thy faults, thy follies too,
I love thee still : still with a candid eye must view
Thy wit, too quick, still blundering into sense,
Thjr reckless humor: sad improvidence,
And even what sober judges follies call,
I, looking at the Heart, forget them all !
May, 1849. MAKIA E.

On the morning of the 22d of May Miss Edgeworth
drove out, apparently in her usual health. On her
return she was suddenly seized with pain of the heart,
and in a few hours breathed her last, in the arms of her
devoted stepmother and friend.1

1 Mrs. Edgeworth herself lived till 1865, greatly honored and beloved.

688 MAEIA EDGEWOKTH [1849

Mrs. Edgeworth writes : —

Maria had always wished that her friends should be
spared the anguish of seeing her suffer in protracted ill-
ness ; she had always wished to die at home, and that I
should be with her — both her wishes were fulfilled.

Extremely small of stature, her figure continued
slight, and all her movements singularly alert to the
last. No one ever conversed with her for five minutes
without forgetting the plainness of her features in the
vivacity, benevolence, and genius expressed in her coun-
tenance.1

Particularly neat in her dress and in all her ways, she
had everything belonging to her arranged in the most
perfect order — habits of order early impressed upon her
mind by Mrs. Honora Edgeworth, which, with her
methodical way of doing business, enabled her to get
through a surprising amount of multifarious work in the
course of every day.

She wrote almost always in the library, undisturbed
by the noise of the large family about her, and for many
years on a little desk her father had made for her, and
on which, two years before his death, he inscribed the
following words : —

" On this humble desk were written all the numerous
works of my daughter, Maria Edgeworth, in the common
sitting-room of my family. In these works, which were
chiefly written to please me, she has never attacked the

l In her old age Miss Edgeworth used to say, " Nobody is anything
worse than ' plain ' now ; no one ia ugly now but myself," — but no one
thought her so.

1849] MARIA EDGEWORTH 689

personal character of any human being or interfered with
the opinions of any sect or party, religious or political ;
while endeavoring to inform and instruct others, she im-
proved and amused her own mind and gratified her heart,
which I do believe is better than her head.

E. L. E.»

She used afterwards a writing-desk which had been
her father's, but when at home it was always placed on
a little table of his construction, which is in my posses-
sion, and to which she had attached many ingenious con-
trivances— a bracket for her candlestick, a fire-screen,
and places for her papers. This little table being on
casters, she could move it from the sofa by the fire to
the window, or into a recess behind the pillars of the
library, where she generally sat in summer-time. She
wrote on folio sheets of paper, which she sewed together
in chapters.

To facilitate the calculation of the MS. for printing,
and to secure each page containing nearly the same
amount of writing, she used to prick the margin of her
paper at equal distances, and her father made a little
machine set with points by which she could pierce sev-
eral sheets at once. A full sketch of the story she was
about to write was always required by her father before
she began it, and though often much changed in its
progress, the foundation and purpose remained as origi-
nally planned. She rose, as I have said, early, and after
taking a cup of coffee and reading her letters, walked out
till breakfast-time, a meal she always enjoyed especially
(though she scarcely ate anything) ; she delighted to
read out and talk over her letters of the day, and listened

690 MARIA EDGEWORTH [1849

a little to the newspapers, but she was no politician.
She came into the breakfast-room in summer-time with
her hands full of roses, and always had some work or
knitting to do while others ate. She generally sat down
at her desk soon after breakfast and wrote till luncheon-
time, — her chief meal in the day, — after which she
did some needlework, often unwillingly, when eager
about her letters or MSS., but obediently, as she had
found writing directly after eating bad for her. Some-
times in the afternoon she drove out, always sitting with
her back to the horses, and when quite at ease about
them exceedingly enjoyed a short drive in an open car-
riage, not caring and often not knowing which road she
went, talking and laughing all the time. She usually
wrote all the rest of her afternoon, and in her latter
years lay down and slept for an hour after dinner, com-
ing down to tea and afterwards reading out herself, or
working and listening to the reading out of some of
the family. Her extreme enjoyment of a book made
these evening hours delightful to her and to all her
family. If her attention was turned to anything else,
she always desired the reader to stop till she was able to
attend, and even from the most apparently dull composi-
tions she extracted knowledge or amusement. She often
lingered after the usual bed-time to talk over what she
had heard, full of bright or deep and solid observations,
and gay anecdotes apropos to the work or its author.

She had amazing power of control over her feelings
when occasion demanded, but in general her tears or her
smiles were called forth by every turn of joy and sorrow
among those she lived with. When she met in a
stranger a kindred mind, her conversation upon every

1849] MAEIA EDGEWORTH 691

subject poured forth, was brilliant with wit and elo-
quence and a gayety of heart which gave life to all she
thought and said. But the charms of society never
altered her taste for domestic life ; she was consistent
from the beginning to the end. Though so exceedingly
enjoying the intercourse of all the great minds she had
known, she more enjoyed her domestic life with her
nearest relations, when her spirits never flagged, and
her wit and wisdom, which were never for show, were
called forth by every little incident of the day. When
my daughters were with Maria at Paris, they described
to me the readiness with which she would return from
the company of the greatest philosophers and wits of the
day to superintend her young sisters' dress, or arrange
some party of pleasure for them. "We often wonder
what her admirers would say, after all the profound
remarks and brilliant witticisms they have listened to, if
they heard all her delightful nonsense with us." Much
as she was gratified by her " success " in the society of
her celebrated contemporaries, she never varied in her
love for Home.

Her whole life, of eighty-three years, had been an
aspiration after good.

INDEX

ABBOTSFORD, 461-464.

Abercromby, James, afterwards Lord

Dunfermline, 396, 397.
Abiugton, Mrs. Frances, 226.
" Absent, L', " 233.
"Absentee, The," 188, 190, 191, 228,

233.

Acland, Lady, 183.
Acland, Sir Thomas, 183, 666.
Addington, Mr., 180.
" Adele and Theodore," 19.
Aikin, Dr. John, 46.
Alfieri's " Life," 171, 183.
AH Pasha, 247.

Alison, Rev. Archibald, 440, 441, 445.
Alison, William Pulteney, 440.
" Allemague," 233, 234.
Allen, Mr., 221.
Allen, James, 285.
Allenstown, 74.
Allerton Hall, 204-206.
Allott, Mr., 539, 540.
Almack's, 414-416, 496.
" Almack's," 4%, 497.
" Almeria," 173.
" Amelie," 138.
41 Ami des Enfans," 110.
Aixhv, Major John, 7.
" Angelina," 75.
Anglas, Boissyd1, 111.
Angoulgme, Due d', 320.
AngoulSme, Duchesse d', 298.
" Animaux Savants, Les," 321.
Anningsly, 11.
Apreece, Mrs., 166, 178 ; marries Sir

Humphry Davy, 192. See Davy,

Lady.

Arago, Monsieur, 326, 327, 333.
Armagh, 675, 676, 682.
Armagh, Archbishop of, 172, 173, 175.
" Armenians, The," 515.
Arsenal, Mine, de Genlis in the, 133-

140.

Artois, Count d', 46, 421.
" Asiatic Miscellany," 154.
Aston Hall, 290.
Athlone, 555, 556.
Austen, Jane, 249.
Aveyron, Savage of, 78.

Bagot, Lord, 274.

Baillie, Agnes, 392-396.

Baillie, Joanna, 248, 267, 268, 391-396.

Ballinahinch Castle, 575-590.

Ballinamuck, 61, 63.

Ballinasloe, 557, 558.

Balloon ascension, 193-197.

Ballymahon, 42, 555.

Balmat, Pierre, 325.

Bangor, 81.

Bangor Ferry, 81, 82, 201, 372.

Bankes, Mr., 416.

Banks, Sir Joseph, 166.

Bannatyne, Miss, letter to, 653.

Banuatyne, Mr., letters to, 504, 505,
544.

Bannatyne, Mrs., letters to, 467, 493.

Barbauld, Anna Letitia, 69, 164, 178,
268, 478.

Barbauld, Kev. Kochemont, 69.

Barry, Dr., 483.

Bassompierre's " Memoirs," 286.

Bath, 19, 31.

Bathurst, Lady, 265, 266.

Batten, Dr., 400.

Baviere, Mme. de, her " Memoirs,"
224.

Beauchamp, Lady, 359.

Beaufort, Dr., Vicar of Collon, 51, 68,
154, 166, 246.

Beaufort, Duchess of, 387, 475.

Beaufort, Lady (Honora Edgeworth),
letters to, 677, 681, 687.

Beaufort, Mrs., 154, 166, 246, 525.

Beaufort, Barry, 57.

Beaufort, Frances Anna, marries Rich-
ard Lovell Edgeworth, 51, 54 ; letter
to, 51. See Edgeworth, Mrs. Frances
Anna.

Beaufort, Capt. (afterwards Sir) Fran-
cis, 57, 270, 333, 334, 337, 338, 395,
407, 408, 411, 512, 513, 626-628, 630,
633,637.

Beaufort, Mrs. Francis (Honora Edge-
worth), 633, 634, 637-639, 662, 666;
letters to, 642, 645, 656. See Edge-
worth, Miss Honora (the 2d), and
Beaufort, Lady.

Beaufort, Harriet, 74, 166.

Beaufort, Admiral Sir J., 257.

Beaufort, William, 162, 337, 469, 491.

Beauveau, Prince Edinond de, 319.

694

INDEX

Beddoes, Henry, 188, 474, 596.
Beddoes, Dr. Thomas, 32, 68, 69, 160,

167.
Beddoes, Mrs. Thomas, 69, 167, 188,

226-228, 470, 523. See Edgeworth,

Anna.

Beddoes, Thomas Lovell, 167.
Bedford, Duchess of, 157, 282.
Bedford, Duke of, 222, 223.
Beechwood Park, 397, 398.
Belgrave, Lady Elizabeth, 420.
"Belinda," 73, 75, 76, 87, 109, 121, 139,

178.

Bentham, Gen., 225.
Bentham, Mrs., 225.
Berne, 339.

Berry, Miss Mary, 225, 285.
Bertrand, Mine., 327.
Besborough, Lady, 125, 129.
" Bibliotheque Britannique," 79.
Biddulph, Mr., 375.
Billamore, Kitty, 287, 288.
Bingham, Major, 554.
Biot, Jean Baptiste, 297, 298.
Birkbeck, Dr. George, 144.
Bisset, Lady Catherine, 384.
Black Bourton, 6, 8.
Black Castle, 7, 13, 16, 36, 146, 171, 258,

469, 481-483, 491, 597.
Blake, the Misses, 8.
Boismorrel, Mme. de, 45.
Bonay, Marquis de, 237.
Bonstettin. M. de, 356.
Bootle, Wilbraham, 415, 418.
"Botanic Garden," 22, 27, 112.
Bouille, Mme. de, 361.
Bousset, Louis, 504.
Bowles, William Lisle, 264, 385.
Bowood, 262-270, 366, 367, 385.
Boyle, 189.
Brandfold, 516.
Bredalbane, Lady, 283.
Bremer's " Our Neighbors," 652.
Brennar, Count, 302.
Brinkley, Dr., 333.
Bristol, 31. See Clifton.
Bristow, George, 278.
Bristow, John, 253.
Bristow, Mary, 172, 362.
Broadhurst, Miss Henrica, 207, 228.

See Edgeworth, Mrs. Charles Sneyd.
Brodie, Sir Benjamin Collins, 393, 394.
Broglie, Due de, 250, 354, 356.
Broglie, Duchesse de, 294, 355-357.
Brownripg, Colonel, 48.
Bruges, 92, 93.

Brunei, Sir Mark Isamband, 268.
Brussels, 95-97.
Buonaparte, Joseph, 330.
Buonaparte, Mme. Louis, 129.
Buonaparte, Napoleon, 98, 106, 108, 119,

121, 122, 188, 200,248, 261, 299, 300,

326, 327, 336, 370, 489.
Burke, Ulick, 571-674.
Burney, Dr. Charles, 152.
Bushe, Mrs., 247.

Bushe, Solicitor-General, 196.

Bussigny, 351-353.

Butler, Dr., 185.

Butler, Mrs., 185.

Butler, Danvers, 609, 610.

Butler, Mrs. Danvers, 609, 610.

Butler, Mrs. Richard, 492, 546, 599,
616, 629, 632, 653, 673; letters to,
526, 534, 542, 544, 545, 608, 636, 638,
639, 641, 643, 644, 646, 656. 657, 658,
659, 667, 672, 675, 677, 678, 682, 685,
687. See Edgeworth, Harriet.

Butler, Rev. Richard, 258, 491, 492,
511, 547, 608, 629-631, 652, 674, 687.

" Butterfly's Ball," 208.

Buxton, Mr., 279.

" By and Bye," 68.

Byrkely Lodge, 271-274.

Byron, Lord, 181, 182, 218, 251, 263,
264, 353, 477.

Caffarelli, Gen., 299, 300.

"Cain," by Lord Byron, 402.

Calais, 89, 131, 365.

Calcott, Mr. , 405.

Caledon, Lord, 676.

" Calendar of Flora," 72.

Callander, 447-450.

Cambray, 98.

Cambridge, 208-216.

Cambridge, Duke of, 663.

Camden, John Jeffreys Pratt, Marquia

of, 41, 381.

Campan, Mme., 105, 111, 129, 132.
Campbell, Sir James Calendar, his

" Memoirs," 543.
Campbell, Thomas, 276, 277, 461.
Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de, 328-

332.

Canning, George, 186.
Canova, Antonio, 276.
Caraboo, 466.
Cariati, Prince, 388.
Carleton's " Memoirs," 176.
Carnarvon, 81, 82.
Carnegy, Miss, 262.
" Caroline de Lichfield," 351, 352.
Carr, Mr., 390, 392.
Carr, Mrs., 392.
Carr, Morton, 391.
Carr, Miss Sarah, 391.
Carr, Tom, 391, 392.
Carrier, Joseph, 348, 349.
Carrington, Lady, 381, 382.
Carrington, Lord, 230, 318, 375, 376,

381, 382, 549.
Castle Donnington, 85, 86.
Castle Forbes, 13, 483, 484.
"Castle Rackrent," 72, 73, 76, 87, 223,

433.

Castlereagh, Lord, 65.
Castletown, 244.
Castoras, Marquise de, 313.
" Catiline," a tragedy, 434-436,
Cats, 63, 394, 395.
Caulincourt, 200.

INDEX

G95

" Cecilia," 150.

" Celibataire, Le Vieux," 263.

Chambers, William, G82, 683.

Chamouni, 324-326.

Champlatreiix, 308.

Cliainller, Mrs., 226.

Chantilly, 99, 100.

Chantrey, Sir Francis, 276.

Cliaptal, Jean Antoine, Comte de

Chanteloupe, 73, 319.
Charleinont, Lord, 40.
" Charlemont, Lord, Life of," 186.
Charleville, Lady, 177, 220.
Chateauvieux's travels in Italy, 285.
Chenevix, Richard, 73, 79, 95, 124, 176,

177,2%, ;;•.'( i.

Charon, Monsieur, 124.

" Chevaliers du Cigne, Les," 138, 140.

Chevening, 532.

Chillon, 353.

Cireucester, 386-388.

Clairon, Mile., her " Memoirs," 170.

Clarke, Lady, 247.

Clarke, Edward Daniel, 216-218.

Clarke, Mrs. Edward Daniel, 217.

Clifford, Mrs., 179, 228.

Clifton, 16, 18-32, 67, 68-70, 226, 227,

365, 385, 386.
Clogher, Bishop of, 182.
Clonmacnoise, Dean of, 258.
Cochin China, a Frenchman in, 323, 324.
Codd, Mrs., 246.
"Coelebiua in Search of a Husband,"

175.

" Ccelebs," 179.
Coffy, Mrs., 180.
Coffy, Mrs. Molly, 181.
Coigny, Due de, 319.
Coke, Mr., of Norfolk, 319.
Collard, Royer, 317.
" Collegians, The," 513.
Collingwood, 668.
Collon, 154.
Comedy, a, 65-67.
Coude', Prince de, 200.
Condorcet, Marquis de, 110.
Connemara, journey through, 552-594.
Connemara, King of, 553, 554, 587.
Connolly, Lady Louisa, 246.
" Conseils i mon Fils," 233.
Constant, Benjamin, 316, 317, 336.
" Contrast," 175, 187.
Convent, a visit to a, 344-348.
" Conversations on Chemistry," 175.
Conway, 203.
Coolure, 161, 238.
Coppet, 335-337, 354.
"Corinne," 1G4, 165, 355.
Cornwallis, Lord, 55, 57, 63-65, 234.
Corrib Lodge, 568-570.
Corrie, Mr., 277.
" Cottage Dialogues," 184.
" Cottagers of Glenburnie," 169.
Coutay, Marie, 349.
Crampton, Sir Philip, 479.
Cranalagh, 70, 74.

Crewe, Lady, 219, 238.

Crewe, Miss, 152.

Crewe, Mrs., 152.

Cromwell, Oliver, portrait of, 212, 213.

Crosby, Gen., 42.

Croydon, 639, 640.

Cuvier, Baron, 297-299, 31D.

Cuvier's " Theory of the Earth," 249.

" Cyril Thornton," 505.

Dalgourski, Princess, 125.

Danish Ambassador, 6C, 67.

Dapple, 64.

D'Arblay, Madame, 224, 238.

Darnley, Lady, 157, 219, 282.

Darnley, Lord, 157, 282, 616.

Dartmouth, Lady, 274.

Darwin, Charles, his " Voyage in the

Beagle," 638.
Darwin, Emma, 208.
Darwin, Dr. Erasmus, 7, 13, 21, 22, 27,

46, 70, 84, 20C.

Darwin, Mrs. Erasmus, 84, 208.
Davis, Vice-Chancellor, 212, 213.
Davy, Lady, 167, 178, 218, 231. See

Apreece, Mrs.
Davy, Sir Humphry, 68, 69, 160, 1C7,

185, 189, 192, 218, 426, 465, 488-490.
Day, Thomas, 7, 11.
Dease, Lady Teresa, 185.
Deepdene, 283, 388-390, 423.
Defenders, 38, 43, 47.
Deffand, Marquise du, 183.
Degerando, Joseph Marie, 105, 309, 317.
Delacour, Lady, 219.
Delaney, Mrs., 180.

Delessert, Mine., 101, 102, 109, 110, 118.
Delessert, Alexandre, 294.
Delessert, Benjamin, 101, 118, 321, 323.
Delessert, Mine. Benjamin, 294.
Delessert, Francois, 102, 108, 118, 119,

294, 321.

Delessert, Mine. Francois, 364, 365.
"Delphine," 138.
Denmark, King of, 66, 67.
Deodati, Pictet, 354.
Derby, 22, 206-208.
"Deux Gendres, Les," 234.
" Diary of an Ennuyee," 598, 599.
Dickens, Charles, 653.
" Dix Annies d'Exil, Les," 335, 377.
Donnington, Castle, 85, 86.
Dornford, Mr., 348, 349.
Doyle, Bishop, 657, 658.
Dublin, 67, 185, 193-197, 235, 245, 246.
Duchenois, Mile., 359.
Dudley, Lord, 173, 518.
" Dudley, Lord North, Life of," 170.
Dumont, Pierre Etienne Louis, 102,

173, 176, 221, 261 -203, 282, 329, 330,

337, 349-354, 358, 401.
Dundalk, 154.

Dunfermline, Lord, 396, 397.
Dunkirk, 90.
Duiimoe Cottage, 597, 598, 607, 608.

696

INDEX

" Early Lessons," 75, 124, 229, 432.

Eastern Grey, 366, 367, 384.

Edelcrantz, Monsieur, 106, 107, 112-116.

Edgeware, 5.

Edgeworth, Abbe" Henry Essex, 18, 40,
71, 72, 126, 162, 237, 298, 345, 504, 686.

Edgeworth, Anna, 8, 31, 32, 257. See
Beddoes, Mrs. Thomas.

Edgeworth, Mrs. Anna Maria, 6-8, 257.

Edgeworth, Antonio Erolas, 258.

Edgeworth, Charles Sneyd, 18, 26, 34,
42, 43, 46, 66, 67, 68, 145, 147, 150, 161,
162, 189, 1%, 198, 207, 208, 228, 229,
235, 237, 256, 257, 284, 341, 516, 536,
611 ; letter from Charlotte E., 126 ;
letters from Maria E., 150, 163, 167,
181, 199, 209, 246, 492, 496, 597, 611 ;
letter to Mrs. C. S. E., 546.

Edgeworth, Mrs. Charles Sneyd, 235,
341 ; letters to, 261, 284 ; letter from
C. S. E., 546. See Broadhurst, Miss
Henrica.

Edgeworth, Charlotte, 24, 26, 66, 68,
75, 80, 81, 88, 91, 125, 131, 150, 151,
161, 257; letter to Miss Charlotte
Sneyd, 116 ; letter to C. Sneyd Edge-
worth, 126.

Edgeworth, Edward, Bishop of Down
and Connor, 5.

Edgeworth, Miss Elizabeth, 66, 68, 257.

Edgeworth, Mrs. Elizabeth, 11, 13, 21,
34, 43, 50 ; letter to, 35. See Sneyd,
Elizabeth.

Edgeworth, Emmeline, 8, 16, 25, 37, 40,
66, 82, 83; marries Mr. John King
(or Konig), 80, 257. See King, Mrs.
John.

Edgeworth, Mrs. Frances Anna, 54, 55,
59-62, 63, 67, 69, 80, 87, 88, 114-118,
129, 130, 166-169, 184, 185, 191, 208,
214, 224-228, 248, 258, 322, 494, 495,
546, 594, 614, 619, 621, 623, 624, 682,
683, 687; letters to, 154, 158, 193,
262, 266, 274, 291, 329, 348, 360, 365,
372, 375, 379, 385, 390, 396, 398, 404,
411, 423, 481, 507, 511, 520, 523, 531,
536, 539, 607, 608, 609, 626, 631, 637,
638, 639, 659, 660, 668 ; letter to Mrs.
Ruxton, 68 ; letters to Miss Sneyd,
106, 128 ; letter to Miss Sophy Rux-
ton, 158 ; editorial matter by, 54, 55,
59-62, 65, 69, 75, 76, 114-116, 129, 130,
166, 184, 185, 225, 226, 228, 481, 609,
610, 611, 688-691. See Beaufort,
Frances Anna.

Edgeworth, Frances Maria, 70, 112,
151, 172, 185, 194-196, 198, 258, 271-
273, 277, 281, 283, 288-290, 292, 296,
298, 309, 313, 316, 338, 346, 347, 349,
358, 375, 380, 382-384, 387, 389, 390,
392, 396, 400-402, 414, 415, 426, 434-
436 ; marries Lestock P. Wilson,
Esq., 510, 511. See Wilson, Mrs.
Lestock P.

Edgeworth, Francis, 5.

Edgeworth, Francis Beaufort, 258, 272,

288, 371, 428, 429, 431, 434, 435, 483,
541, 546, 631, 634, 672, 678.

Edgeworth, Mrs. Francis Beaufort, 631,
632, 644, 684. See Erolas, Kosa Flor-
entine.

Edgeworth, Harriet, 151, 194, 195, 198,
258, 288, 290, 292, 298, 309, 313, 316,
338, 349, 358, 375, 380-384, 387, 389,
392, 401, 402, 414, 415, 426, 428, 434,
435, 437, 438, 486 ; marries Rev. Rich-
ard Butler, 491. See Butler, Mrs.
Richard.

Edgeworth, Henry, 14, 21, 22, 26, 37,
60, 61, 66, 67, 73, 102, 130, 143, 144,
146, 150, 167, 257 ; letters to, 148,
162.

Edgeworth, Miss Honora, 10, 14, 15,
257.

Edgeworth, Miss Honora (the 2d), 26,
66, 185, 246, 257, 272, 274, 277, 431,
474, 508, 546, 609, 616, 626-629 ; mar-
ries Capt. Francis Beaufort, 630 ;
letters to, 144, 146, 176, 206, 289, 335,
357, 366, 374, 388, 438, 462, 470, 472,
478, 491, 519, 523, 548, 549 ; letter to
Mrs. E., 509. See Beaufort, Mrs.
Francis.

Edgeworth, Mrs. Honora, 8 ; letter to
M. E., 9 ; dies, 9, 10 ; 688. See Sneyd,
Honora.

Edgeworth, Lovell, 9, 26, 27, 34, 35, 37,
40, 42, 46, 48, 64, 66, 67, 74, 82, 93,
132, 150, 166, 181, 191, 203, 235, 236,
256, 257, 259, 272, 288, 349, 369, 485,
486, 507-509, 620.

Edgeworth, Lucy Jane, 150, 258, 349,
368, 369, 435, 470, 472, 474, 479, 482,
491, 594, 629, 631, 644 ; marries Rev.
T. R. Robinson, D. D., 655; letters
to, 288, 320, 332, 363, 377, 382, 393,
447, 455. See Robinson, Mrs. T. R.

Edgeworth, Margaret, 7. See Ruxton,
Mrs. John.

Edgeworth, Maria, her ancestry and
parentage, 5, 6 ; her birth, 7, 8 ; her
childhood, 8-11 ; begins writing
stories, 11 ; girlhood and life at
Edgeworthstown, 11-17 ; life at Clif-
ton, 18-32; at Edgeworthstown again,
32-67 ; publishes " Letters for Lit-
erary Ladies " and " The Parent's
Assistant," 43; publishes "Practical
Education " jointly with her father,
65 ; in Dublin, 67, 68 ; at Clifton
again, 67, 68-70 ; back at Edge-
worthstown, 70-79; publishes "Castle
Rackrent " in collaboration with her
father, 72 ; publishes " Belinda " also
with his collaboration, 73, 75; pub-
lishes "An Essay on Irish Bulls"
with his collaboration, 76, 77 ; her
first journey to Paris, 80-100 ; in
Paris, 100-130; receives an offer of
marriage, 112-116; her journey home
via Edinburgh, 131-145 ; resumes her
life at Edgeworthstown, 145-199;

INDEX

697

publishes " Popular Tales," writes
" Leonora " and " The Modern Gri-
selda," and begins " Eniilin de Cou-
lauges," " Madame de Fleury," and
" Eunui," 145 ; publishes " Tales of
Fashionable Life," 173 ; publishes
the second series of " Tales of Fash-
ionable Life," 190 ; accompanies her
father and stepmother to England,
199 ; at Edgeworthstown again, 229-
261 ; grief at her father's death, 258,
259 ; her eyesight becomes tempo-
rarily impaired, 258, 259 ; visits Eng-
land again, 2G2-283 ; back at Edge-
worthstown, 284-288: recovers the
full use of her eyes, 287 ; completes
her father's "Memoirs," 288; her
second visit to Paris, 288-324; in
Switzerland, 324-357 ; her journey
home, 357-3G8 ; at Edgeworthstown,
368-372 ; more visits in England,
372-430 ; her conversational powers,
430 ; takes up her life at Edgeworths-
town again, 430-437 ; visits Scotland,
437-464; at Edgeworthstown, 465-
515 ; carries the Edgeworth estates
safely through the financial crisis of
1826, 485 ; publishes the second part
of " Harry and Lucy," 485 ; her
presence of mind during a fire,
507-509 ; in London, 515-539 ; at
Edgeworthstown, 539-555 ; finishes
"Helen," 546; travels through Con-
nemara, 552-594 ; at Edgeworths-
town, 592-636 ; her habits of compo-
sition, 600-607 ; her personal appear-
ance and conversation in 1835-36,
619-624 ; in London, 636-641 ; at
Edgeworthstown, 642-656 ; becomes
an honorary member of the Royal
Irish Academy, 645; her personal
appearance and character as de-
scribed by Mrs. S. C. Hall, 646-650 ;
dangerously ill with a fever, 650,
651 ; spends the winter of 1843-44 in
London, 656-671 ; passes the re-
mainder of her life at Edgeworths-
town, 672-G87 ; her pleasure in lit-
erature in old age, 687 ; dies, May 22,
1849, 687 ; description of her char-
acter and habits of life by Mrs.
Edgeworth, 688-691.

Edgeworth, Michael Pakenham, 256,
258, 321, 322, 371, 434-436, 483, 535-
538, 644, 645, 655, 656, 677; letters
to, 548, 615.

Edgeworth, Mrs. M. Pakenham, 677.

Edgeworth, Richard, 5.

Edgeworth, Richard, son of Richard
Lovell Edgeworth, 7, 8, 24, 25,42,
257.

Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, 6-8, 10-13,
15, 16, 21, 23, 31, 33-35, 37, 38, 40, 44,
45, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55-65, 67, 71,
73, 76-78, 80, 84-88, 92, 93, 95, 98-
100, 103, 108, 113-116, 118-121, }24,

126, 128, 130, 133-139, 145-150, 154,
159, 165-167, 172, 177, 179-182, 184,
185, 190-195, 198, 202, 203, !aX3, 208-
210, 213-217, 220, 222, 223, 227, 228,
235, 236, 241, 244-247, 250, 251, 254-
259, 261, 272, 322, 377, 492, 522, 602,
607, 611, 612, 620, 689 ; letter to Mrs.
Ruxton, 32 ; letter to Miss C. Sueyd,
104; his inscription on Maria E.'s
desk, 688, 689.

"Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, Me-
moirs of," 259, 262, 264, 288, 308,
330, 339, 355, 358-360, 377.

Edgeworth, Roger, 5.

Edgeworth, Sophia, 257.

Edgeworth, Sophia (the 2d), 148, 151,
172, 258, 322, 323, 434, 435, 437, 438,
445, 447, 449, 451, 457-461, 463; mar-
ries Capt. Barry Fox, 468, 469. See
Fox, Mrs. Barry.

Edgeworth, Thos. Day, 17, 21, 24, 257.

Edgeworth, Ussher, 18.

Edgeworth, William (the 1st), 257.

Edgeworth, William (the 2d), 66, 150,
151, 172, 185, 196, 198, 207, 208, 257,
447, 448, 451, 453, 512, 513, 584.

Edgeworthstown, 5-8, 11-17, 32-67, 70-
79, 145-199, 229-261, 284-288, 368-
372, 430-437, 465-515, 539-555, 592-
636, 642-S51, 656, 672-687.

Edinburgh, 142-145, 440-446.

" Edinburgh Review," 174, 186, 232.

Education, 12, 13, 67, 68.

Education Bill, 67.

Elers, Anna Maria, marries Richard
Lovell Edgeworth, 6 ; dies, 8 ; 257.

Elers, Paul, 6.

" Ellen Middleton," 674.

Ellice, Mr., 278.

" Emilie de Coulanges," 145, 170, 233.

" Emma," 249.

Enard, Mme., 329.

Enghien, Due d', 200.

" English Bards and Scotch Review-
ers," 181.

" Ennui," 145, 146, 166, 171, 233.

Erolas, Rosa Florentina, marries Fran-
cis Beaufort E., 258, 541. See Edge-
worth, Mrs. Francis Beaufort.

Escar, Duchesse d', 314, 315, 360.

" Essai sur la Fiction," 232.

" Essay on Happiness," by Kirwan,
171.

"Essays," by the author of "Caleb
Williams," 49.

Essington, Samuel, 228.

" Esther," 129, 132.

Etruria, 83.

" Eugene Aram," 542.

" Eugene et Guillaume," 245.

Eustace, Maj., 61.

" Evenings at Home," 35, 46, 69.

Everard, William, 313.

Fanshawe, Miss Catharine, 218, 238,
279.

698

INDEX

Parish, Professor, 209, 210, 215.
Farnham, Lady, 231, 232.
Farnham, Lord, 231.
Farrar, Eliza, her description of Miss

Mary Sneyd, 506, 507 ; her descrip-
tion of Edgeworthstown, 614, 615 ;

her visit to M. E., 621, 622.
Fazakerley, Mr., 366, 367.
Fetherstone, Sir T., 44.
Fielding, Capt., 366.
Fingal, Lord, 185.

Fire in the Edgeworth house, 507-509.
Fish, conjuring, 163, 164.
Fitzgerald, Lady Charlotte, 597.
Flanders, 90-98.

Fleury's " Memoirs of Napoleon," 369.
"Floreutin, Le," 263.
" Folliculaires, Les," 300.
Forbes, Lord, 483.
" Forgive and Forget," 68.
Fort Augustus, 454.
Fortescue, Miss, 170.
Fortescue, Mrs., 170.
Fortescue, Sir Chichester, 155.
Fort William, 451.
Foster, Lady Elizabeth, 125, 129.
Foster, Miss Harriet, 182.
Foster, Leslie, 176.
Fox, Miss, 219, 366, 385.
Fox, Lady Anne, 57.
Fox, Capt. Barry, 248, 258, 423, 468-

470, 492, 549, 556, 609-611, 630.
Fox, Mrs. Barry, 470, 472, 486, 491,

492, 548, 549, 555, 594, 616, 625.

See Edgeworth, Sophia (the 2<1).
Fox, Charles, 613.
Fox, Francis, 232.
Fox, Mrs. Francis (Mary Edgeworth),

361.

Fox, Miss Mary Elizabeth, 366, 385.
Fox, Maxwell, 491, 492.
Frampton, Lady Harriet, 416.
France, M. E. in, 99-131, 288-324, 357-

365.

" France in 1814 and 1815," 249.
" Frank," 229, 403.
"Freeman Family," 175.
Freemasonry, 66.
French invasion of Ireland, 56, 57,

60,61.

French Revolution, 45, 73.
Fressenus, Monsieur, 292.
Fribourg, 338.
" Friendship's Offering for 1825," 475,

476.

Frognel, 428.
Fry, Mrs., 279, 411-414.
Fuseli, John Henry, 205.

Galitzin, Princess, 361.
Gallois, Monsieur, 319.
Galway, 559-561.
Gardner, Lord, 230, 231.
Garrow, Baron, 639.
Gaseous Oxyd, 68, 69.
Gatcombe Park, 379-384.

Gautier, Mtne., 101, 102, 110, 118, 126,

293, 294, 301, 316, 322, 323.
Geneva, 324, 328-334, 353, 354.
Genlis, Mme. de, 19, 132-140, 312, 314,

511.

George, Sir Rupert, 179, 180.
Geraldine, Lady, 219.
Ghent, 94.

Gibbon, Edward, 352, 356.
Gibson, Dr. William, 631.
"Girondius, Histoire des," 686.
Glasgow, 144.
Glauber's salts, 189.
Glenbervie, Lord, 279.
Gloucester, 226.
" Good Aunt, The," 49.
" Good French Governess, The," 49.
Gordon, James, 237, 238.
Goutar, Monsieur, landlord at St. Ger-

vais, 327, 328.

Gower, Lady Elizabeth, 272, 273, 278.
Gower, Lord Francis, 273.
Grainger, Mr., 200.
Grauard, 64, 249.
Granard, Lord, 13, 41, 97.
"Grantley Manor," 685.
Gravelines, 89.
Greenough, Mr., 160.
Grenville, Lord, 265, 291, 396, 397.
Grenville, Thomas, 263, 265.
Grey, Lady, 278.
Grey, Hamilton, 656.
Grey, Mrs. Hamilton, 656.
Grindelwald, Valley of, 342.
" Grinding Organ, The," 171.
"Griselda, The Modern," 145,248, 621.
" Griseldis de Chaucer et Edgeworth,

Les deux," 233.
Grivel, Mme., 118.
Gwatkin, Mr., 530.
Gwatkin, Mrs., 528-530.

" Hair-Trigger Dick," 554.

Hales, Mr., 377, 378.

Haliburton, Judge, 538.

"Halidon Hill, "431.

Hall, Capt. Basil, letters to, 498, 512,
539.

Hall, Mrs. S. C., her visit to the Edge-
worths, 646-650 ; letters to, 683, 687.

Hamel, Dr. Joseph, 348, 349.

Hamilton, Mrs., 178.

Hamilton, Caroline, 245, 543.

Hamilton, Elizabeth, 169, 231.

Hamilton, Henry, 176, 193, 196.

Hamilton, Sackville, 193.

Hamilton, William, 514.

Hammond, Mr., 161, 162.

Hampden, 378.

Hampstead, 390-397.

Hardwick, Lady, 219.

Hardwick, Lord, 219.

Hardy, Francis, 186.

Hare, Augustus William, 268.

Hare Hatch, 7.

Harford, Mr., 179.

INDEX

699

" Harrington," 250, 255.

Harrow, 425.

Harrowby, Lady, 273, 281.

Harrowby, Lord, 281, 282.

" Harry and Lucy," 75, 229, 478, 482.

" Harry and Lucy," sequel to, 431, 432.

Hatfield, 398.

Hawkins's " Life of Johnson," 176.

Hay, Mr., private secretary to Lord

Melville, 379.

Haygarth's " Greece," 251.
Hayley, William, 253.
Heathfield, 289, 290.
"Heiress," 178.
" Helen," 514, 542, 546, 547, 550, 599,

600-607, 674.

Hens and Glauber's salts, 189.
Herschel, Sir John, 426, 502-504, 527-

629.

Herschel, Mrs. John, 527, 529.
Highlander, a, 452, 453.
Highlands, the, 451-457.
Hillyar, Capt., 337, 338.
" History of a Flirt," 632.
Hoare, Mrs. Charles, 25, 27, 28, 29,

183.

Hofland, Barbara, 322.
Holland, Dr. Henry, 175, 178, 179, 180,

186, 208, 230, 237, 405, 465, 482-484,

517, 518 ; letter to, 599.
Holyhead, 200.
Holywell, 83.

Hood's " Letters from Australia," 672.
Hope, Mr., 221, 280, 282, 283, 388, 389,

416, 417, 496-498, 623-525.
Hope, Mrs., 220, 221, 280, 282, 283, 388,

416, 417, 524, 525.
Hope, Henry, 283, 388.
Horner, Francis, 653-655.
House of Lords, scene in, 534, 535.
Humboldt, Baron von, 292, 374.
Hume, Mr., 425.
Hunter, Mrs. Anne, 268.

niuminatism, 66.

" India," by Mrs. Graham, 233.

Inglis's " Ireland," 617.

Inverness, 454, 455.

Ireland, Edgeworth family in, 5-7 ;
Maria E.'s life in, 8-17, 32-68, 70-80,
145-199, 229-261, 284-289, 368-372,
430-437, 465-515, 539-636, 642-656,
672-687 ; disturbances in, 38, 40-44,
47, 54-65; union with England, 72;
famine in, 678-684 ; lines by M. E.
on, 687.

" Irish Bulls, An Essay on," 49, 76-78,
87.

Irish giant, 143, 145.

Irish Parliament, the last, 67, 72.

Irish wit, humor, eloquence, and pa-
thos, 77, 78.

Isle of Wight, 430.

Jackson, Miss Fanny, 271.
Jackson, Miss Maria, 271.

James, Sir Walter, 41.

Jameson, Anna, 598, 599.

Jeffrey, Lord, 174, 186, 231.

Jenkins, John, 62, 74.

Jephson, Mr., 182, 183.

Jersey, Lady, 282.

"John Bull," 141.

John Dorees at Galway, 561, 664.

Jones, Lady, 268.

Jones, Mr., 616.

Jordan, Mme., 316.

Jordan, Camille, 105, 111, 308, 316.

Josephine, 108, 109, 200, 305.

"Journal des DtSbats," 121.

Joyce, Big Jacky, 590, 591.

Joyce's Country, 590, 591.

Kames, Lord, 123.

" Karamania," 333, 334.

Kater, Mrs., 420.

Keir, James, 22, 23.

Kenioge, 372, 373.

Kensington Gore, 278-281, 283, 402-407.

Kent, Duke of, 222.

Kilkenny, 184, 185.

Killin, 450.

King, Miss Emmeline, 365.

King (or Konig), John, marries Emme-
line E., 80, 226, 385, 386.

King, Mrs. John, 226, 227, 365, 385,
386, 598. See Edgeworth, Emme-
line.

King, Miss Zoe, 365.

King of Connemara, 553, 554, 587.

King's College Chapel, 213, 214.

Kinneil, 438, 439.

" Knapsack, The," 75, 116.

Knox, Mr., 234, 254.

Knutsford, 206.

Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 112.

La Celle St. Cloud, 300-307, 313, 314.

Lacy, Archdeacon de, 250.

"Lady of the Lake, The," 178, 182,

183, 448, 449.

La Harpe, Jean Francois, 125.
L'Aigle, Mme. de, 319.
Lake, Gen., 61.

Lally-Tollendal, Marquis de, 110.
Lamartine, Alphonse de, 685, 686.
Langan, John, 151, 163, 245.
Langan, Peggy, 223.
Lansdowne, Lady, 219, 232, 262-264,

266, 279, 366, 385, 654, 655.
Lansdowne, Lord, 221, 222, 232, 262,

267, 269, 366, 367, 385, 518.
Lataffiere, Mrs., 9.
Lausanne, 349, 350.
Lauterbrunn, valley of, 341.
Lavater, John Caspar, 19, 85.
Lawrence, Miss, 310.

" Lay of the Last Minstrel, The," 183.

" Lazy Lawrence," 43, 203.

Leadbeater, Mrs. Mary, 184.

Le Bas, Mr., 400.

Le Breton, M., 126, 130, 131.

700

INDEX

Le Brun, Mme. Vigee, 311.

Lefevre, Mrs. Shaw, 426.

Leicester, 87-89.

" Leonora," 114, 145, 152, 233.

L'Espinasse, Mile, de, her " Letters,"

183.

" Letters for Literary Ladies," 33, 43.
" Letters from Lausanne," 79.
"Letters of Lady Russell," 285.
"Letters to Sir James Mackintosh on

Madame de Stael's ' Allemagne,' "

234.
"Lettres Physiques et Morales sur

1'Histoire de la Terre et de

1'Honime," 332.
Leuze, M. de, 112.
Levinge, Lady, 225.
Lichfield, 7, 271.
Lille, Abbe de, 117.
Lindsay, Lady Charlotte, 219, 225.
Lisbon, 28.
" Little Plays," 171.
Liverpool, 204.

Liverpool, Lord, 406, 407, 4%.
Lloyd, Mr., 20.
Loch Katrine, 447-450.
Lockhart, John Gibson, 443, 444, 447,

451, 461, 498, 519, 545.
Lockhart, Mrs. John Gibson, 443, 447,

451, 519, 520.
Logograph, 40, 41, 42, 48.
London, 218-226, 40&430, 515-539, 636-

639, 641, 656-671.
Londonderry, Lady, 415, 416.
Londonderry, Marquis of, 410, 415-417,

433.

Longford, 5, 58, 59, 60, 63, 64, 284.
Longford, Lady, 170, 189, 235, 467, 543.
Longford, Lord, 13, 63, 167-169, 189,

190, 198, 232, 251, 280, 466, 543, 545.
Loughborough, 84.
Lough Corrib, 565, 567, 568.
Lough Glyn, 592, 624.
Loughrea, 559.
Louis XV., 320.
Louis XVIII., 162, 238.
Louis Philippe, 517.
" Love and Law," 249.
Lovell, Jane, 5.
Lucerne, 344.
Ludolf, Count, 379.
Lushington, Dr., 390, 393, 638, 639.
Lygon, Lady Georgiana, 251.
Lyons, 357.

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, 190, 526 ;
his " Life of Hastings," 642.

Mackenzie, Sir George, 180.

Mackintosh, Sir James, 226, 228, 399,
401, 402, 405, 429, 523, 552.

Mackintosh, Robert, 400.

Macpherson, Miss, 245.

Macpherson, Mrs., 457, 458.

Macpherson, Miss Christina, marries
M. Pakenham B. , 258, 677. See Edge-
worth, Mrs. M. Pakenham.

"Madame de Fleury," 128, 145, 153,

176.

Madden's (Dr.) " Travels to Constanti-
nople," 514.
Mahon, Lord, 230, 549 ; his " La Vie

du Grand Conde," 653.
Malagny, 354, 355.
Malcolm, Col., 667.
Malcolm, Sir John, 525, 526, 552.
Malmaison, 305, 306.
Malone, Miss Catherine, 284, 393.
Malouet, Pierre Victor, 119.
Malthus, Thomas Robert, 186, 308, 615,

616.

Malvern, 226, 227.
Manchester, 206.
" Manreuvring," 176, 233.
" Mansfield Park," 245.
Marcet, Dr., 305, 354.
Marcet, Mrs. Jane, 175, 279, 328, 354;

letter to M. E., 359.
Mardoaks, 399-402.
" Marie de Menzikoff," 170.
Marie Louise, Empress of France, 200.
Marlborough, Duke of, 232.
" Marmion," 164.
" Maroons, History of the," 148.
" Marriage," 274.
Mars, Mile., 360.
Marsh, Sir Henry, 673, 682.
Martin, Mr., of Ballinahinch Castle,

578, 580, 581, 583, 586-588.
Martin, Mrs., 576, 577, 580, 581, 583-

585, 593.
Martin, Dick, King of Connemara, 553,

554, 587.
Martin, Miss Mary, 577-580, 585-587,

589.

Mason, Chevalier, 224.
Mathew, Father, 635, 636, 682.
Maxwell, Lady Judith, 153.
Mazarin, Jules, his wise maxim, 188.
McLelland, Mr., 284.
" Memorie of the Somervilles, The,"

398.

" Mental Thermometer," 475, 476.
"Mere Intrigante, La," 233.
Meyringen, valley of, 343.
M'Hugh, Mr., 578, 581.
Michael Angelo, 205.
Milbanke, Lady, 223.
Mill, Mr., 279.

Millbank Penitentiary, 417-419.
"Mine, The," 159.
"Minor Morals," 72.
" Modern Griselda, The," 145, 248, 621.
" Modern Voyages and Travels," 285.
Moffat, Robert, 640, 641.
Moilliet, Mr., 275-277, 324, 328, 354,

358, 374, 375.
Molliet, Mrs., 275-277, 324, 354, 358,

374, 375.

Moira, Earl of, 86.
Moira, Lady, 13, 97.
Mole, Mme., 308.
MolO, Monsieur, 308.

INDEX

701

Monaco, Princess Joseph de, 86.

Monk, Lady Elizabeth, 220.

Montague, Mrs., 419.

Mont Blanc, loss of guides on, 348, 349.

" Montesquieu sur la Grandeur et
Decadence des Remains," 147.

Montgolfier, Joseph Michel, 124.

Montigny, Mine, de, 103.

Montolieu, Mme. de, 350-353.

Moore, Thomas, 461.

" Moral Tales," 49, 75.

Mordecai, Miss Rachel, 250, 369, 495,
626.

More, Hannah, 23, 24, 179 ; her " Let-
ters," 617.

Moreau, Mare'chale de, 295.

Morellet, Abb4 Andre\ 102, 103, 123.

Morgan, Lady, her "Princess," 608,
609.

Moutray, Mrs., 248.

" Mrs. Beaumont," 171.

Mulheeran, Peggy, 370.

Mundy, Mr., 208.

Murray, Lindley, 141, 142.

Nansoutit, Mme., 106.

Napier, Miss, 239.

Napier, Miss Emily, 247.

Napier's "History of the Peninsular

War," 510.
Napoleon Buonaparte, 98, 106, 108, 119,

121, 122, 188, 200, 248, 261, 299, 300,

32G, 327, 336, 370, 489.
Necker, Jacques, 335, 355.
"Necker, M. Jacques, Vie PrivSe de,"

260.
Necker de Saussure, Albertine Adri-

enne, 287, 355.
Neville, Mr., 31.
Newgate, a visit to, 411-414.
Newman, Pat, 184.
Newry, 155.
Not*, Count de, 318.
Noisville, Mme. de, 311, 361.
Norbury, Lord, 176.
"Northanger Abbey," 260.

O'Beirne, Thomas Lewis, Bishop of

Meath, 182, 183, 237, 469.
O'Beirne, Mrs. Thomas Lewis, 182,

183, 237, 249, 437, 541, 667 ; letter to,

469.

" O'Connor's Child," 186, 187.
Ogden, Mr., 385.
Oriel, Lord, 514.
" Orlandino," 682, 683.
Origans, Duohes.se Douairie're d', 313,

314.

Orleans, Duchess of, 312, 314.
Orleans, Duke of, 140, 312.
Orleans, Mile, d', 312.
Orlowski, Countess, 293.
" Ormond," 254-256, 258.
" Othello," acted by amateurs, 184.
Ouditot, Mme. d', 123, 124.
Outerard, 561-668.

Oxford, 375.

Oxyd, Gaseous, 68, 69.

Pakenham, 13, 153, 167, 177, 189, 466,

467, 543, 544.
Pakenham, Admiral, 161, 168, 169, 183,

198, 548, 549.

Pakenham, Lady, 544, 548, 549.
Pakenham, Caroline, 168-170.
Pakenham, Catherine, 153, 158. fti-f,

Wellesley, Lady, and Wellington,

Lady.

Pakenham, Edward, 63, 161, 235.
Pakenham, Lady Elizabeth, 153, 158,

159, 190.

Pakenham, Henry, 169.
Pakenham, Capt. (afterwards Col.)

Hercules, 162, 163, 183, 184, 198, 199,

544.

Parallel Roads, the, 451, 452.
" Parent's Assistant, The," 16, 43, 48,

49, 171.
Paris, 100-130, 292-300, 307-324, 358-

363.

" Paris in 1804, Souvenirs of," 150.
Parliament, 409, 410 ; Queen Victoria's

speech in, 662-666. See House of

Lords.
Parliament, Irish, R. L. E. elected to,

67 ; R. L. E.'s speeches in, 67, 72.
Parr, Dr., 225.
Parry, Capt., 490.
Passy, 126, 315, 316, 319, 322-324.
Pastoret, M. de, 110, 126.
Pastoret, Mme. de, 102, 107, 110, 128,

292-294.
"Patronage," 33, 175, 187, 189, 192,

229, 252, 328.
Peel, Robert, 614.
Penmanmawr, 202, 203.
Pepys, Sir William, 419, 420.
Perkins, Mr.. 406.
"Persuasion," 260.
Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich, 337.
Peterborough, Bishop of, 291.
" Petit Carflloneur, Le," 171.
" Petits Romans," 90, 99, 139.
Petty, Lord Henry, 102, 153.
" Peveril of the Peak," 437.
Pictet, Prof. Marc-Auguste, 79; hia

impressions of M. E., 79; 107, 324,

325, 328, 329, 355.
Pictet de Rochemont, Charles, 355.
Pigeon-hole, the, 565-567.
Pinna, 46.

" Pirate, The," 390, 391.
" Pleasant Memories of Pleasant

Lands," 671.
Polier, Baron de, 353.
Polier, Mme. de, 353.
Polignac, Duchess de, 267.
Polignac, Duke de, 267.
Pollard, Mrs., 167.
" Popular Plays," 249.
"Popular Tales," 72, 145, 174, 233.
Portsmouth, 429, 430.

702

INDEX

Potatoes in Sweden about 1790, 356.
Potemkin, Monsieur, 319, 361.
Potemkin, Princess, 310, 311, 314, 360,

361.

Pounden, Rev. Mr., 558.
Powell, Rev. Mr., 678, 681, 682.
Powell's " Sermons," 175.
Powys, Mrs., 30, 31.
Poype, Marquis de la, 71.
"Practical Education, "33, 56, 65. 68,

75, 105, 111, 122, 139, 144, 310.
Pregny, 324, 328-334, 353, 354.
Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella,"

632.

Prevost Pictet, Mme., 329.
" Pride and Prejudice," 218.
Prince Regent, 220, 291.
" Professional Education," 148, 171.
Prony, Baron de, 105, 111, 297-300,

302, 305, 307.

" Proofs of a Conspiracy," 66.
"Prussian Vase, The," 75.
Publishers, M. E.'s dealings with, 623,

624.
"Purple Jar," 43, 48.

"Quarterly Review," 173, 186, 286,

358, 359, 511, 512.
Queen Caroline, 366, 368.
Queen Charlotte, 159.
Queen Victoria, 663-665.

Railways in slate-quarries, 201, 202.

Ralston, Mr., 404-406, 502.

Rancliffe, Lord, 232.

Randall, Miss, 335, 336, 339.

Randolph, Mr., 427, 428.

" Rational Primer," 124.

Ravensdale, 155.

Rawdon, Lady Charlotte, 182.

" Real Character, or an Essay towards
a Universal Philosophical Language,"
41.

Re"camier, Mme., 105, 106, 111, 121,
125, 200, 284, 295, 300.

"Recueil des Elrges," 334.

"Reginald Dalton," 450, 451.

"Rejected Addresses," 389, 390.

Relfe, Lupton, 475, 476.

Remusat, Mme., l06.

Renvyle, 590.

" Residence in Tripoli," 253.

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 528, 530 ; his pic-
tures, 220, 224, 529, 530.

Ribblesdale, Lady, 618.

Ricardo, David, 3C6, 379-384.

Ricardo, Mrs. David, 380, 381.

Ricardo, O.-man, 380.

Ricardo, Mrs. O man, 380, 384.

Rice, Spring, 42G-428.

Richmond, Duchess of, 163.

Richmond, Duke of, 163.

Ridolfi, Marchese, 309.

Robinson, Dr., 540.

Robinson, Mrs. T. R., 675, 687. See
Edgeworth, Lucy Jane.

Robinson, Rev.T. R., D. D., 258, 655,
675, 687.

" Rob Roy," 450, 452.

Rocca, M., 263, 264.

Rocca, Alphonse, 336, 356.

Rochejacquelein, Mme. de la, 362, 363.

Roehampton, 29.

Roget's "Physiology, with reference
to Theology," 617, 618.

" Rokeby," 199.

Roland, Mme., 45.

Roland de la Platie"re, Jean Marie, 45.

" Romance of the Forest," 27.

Romilly, Lady, 226, 233.

Romilly, Sir Samuel, 225, 226, 269, 433.

Roquefeuille, Mme. de, 296, 310.

Ros, Lady de, 296, 496.

" Rosamond," 48, 229, 303, 310.

Roscoe, William, 204-206.

Roscoe, Mrs. William, 205.

" Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock, The,"
254.

"Rosidre de Salency," 129, 132.

Roslin Castle and chapel, 446.

Ross, 228.

Rosstrevor, 155, 541.

Rostopchin, Count, 311, 314.

Rothe, Mr., 184.

Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 110, 123, 124.

Roy, Rob, 450.

Runxford,- Count, 275.

Rumford, Mme. la Comtesse de, 275,
318, 319, 320, 360.

Russell, Lady, 285.

Russell, Lord John, 618, 619.

Russell (William), Lord, 285.

Russia, Emperor of, 489, 490.

Rutland, Duchess of, 221.

Ruxton, John, 7, 17, 166, 171, 191, 196,
259 ; letters to, 18, 462, 478, 479.

Ruxton, Mrs. John (Margaret Edge-
worth), 13, 76, 120, 154-157, 166, 191,
196, 197, 428, 515 ; letters to, 15, 16,
18, 29, 32, 34, 37, 40, 43, 48, 58, 69,
109, 142, 152, 161, 167, 171, 178, 182,
188, 198, 204, 227-239, 248, 259, 271,
278, 279, 283, 312, 324, 349, 358, 368,
376, 384, 390, 403, 421, 431, 440, 465,
468, 472, 473, 478, 484, 480, 493, 494,
501, 509, 513 ; letter from Mrs. E., 68.

Ruxton, Miss Letty, letter to, 39.

Ruxton, Miss Margiret, 13, 92, 156,
166, 196, 197, 608 ; letters to, 152, 159,
191, 625, 626, 630, 643, 651, 672, 676,
684.

Ruxton, Parkinson, 154.

Rtixton, Richard, 13, 161, 194, 625.

Ruxton, Miss Sophy, 13, 153, 155-157,
166, 191, 196, 197, 227, 349, 4C5,
608, 625; letters to, 21-27, 33, 36,
44. 49. 55, 56. 62-65, 70, 73, 78, 80,
89, 113, 119, 147, 149, 150, 153, 1GO,
161, 164, 174, 176, 177, 182, 183, 185,
186, 189, 218, 245, 247, 255, 2C5, 281,
285, 287, 315, 365, 391, 3i>7, 451, 466,
602, 510, 512, 516, 541, 543, 644, 697,

INDEX

703

598, 618, 624; letter from Mrs. E.,
158.

Sadler, William Windham, 193, 194,
197.

St. Cloud, La Celle, 300-307, 313, 314.

St. Germain, 306, 307.

St. Gervais, 327, 328.

St. Maurice, 353.

" St. Kouan's Well," 466.

St. Theresa, 85.

8. Vincent's rock, 26.

Salis, Baronne de, 292.

Sails, Count de, 182.

Salisbury, 388.

Salisbury, Lady, 398, 399.

Savage of Aveyron, 78.

Scotland, M. E. in, 142-145, 437-464.

Scott, Lady, 443, 444, 461, 462, 486, 487.

Scott, Sir Walter, 43. 72, 178, 186,238,
381, 397,431, 432, 437, 438, 440, 442-
447, 461-466, 479-481, 484, 486, 487,
498, 512, 518, 526, 544, 545, 550, 606,
634, 648 ; letter to, 239 ; letter from,
441.

Scott, Sir Walter, the younger, 594-
596.

Sebright, Sir John, 397, 398, 400.

8e"gur, Count de, 109, 119.

Senange, AdeMe de, 282.

" Sequel of Frank," 369.

Seward, Anna, 7, 252, 253.

Seymour, Lord Henry, 64.

Shelburne, Lord, 267.

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 421, 422.

Sheridan, Mrs. Tom, 157.

Sicard, Abbe1 Roch Ambroise Cucur-
ron, 106, 108.

Siddons, Mrs., 417, 421-423.

Sigourney, Mrs. L. H., on M. E., 671.

" Simple Story, The," 177.

" Simple Susan," 43, 223.

" Sir Charles Grandison," 153.

Skyring, Capt., murder of, 596.

Slate-quarries, 201, 202.

Slievegaulry, 163.

Sligo, Lord, 591, 592, 594.

Sloughs, 570-574.

Smedley, Mr., 208-216.

Smethwick, 275-277, 374, 375.

Smith, Lady, 552-594.

Smith, Mr., of Boston Grey, 247, 367,
383,430.

Smith, Mr., one of the authors of " Re-
jected Addresses," 389, 390.

Smith, Mrs., of Easton Grey, 247,
248.

Smith, Sir Culling, 552-594.

Smith, Sydney, 186, 380, 500, 657, 658 ;
on M. E.'s conversation, 658.

Sneyd, Mr., 275.

Sneyd, Mrs., 274.

Sneyd, Charlotte, 60, 144, 204, 274,
287, 423 ; letters to, 14, 67, 95, 146,
308; letter from R. L. E., 104; let-
ter from Charlotte E., 116.

Sneyd, Elizabeth, marries Richard
Lovell E., 10. See Edge worth, Mrs.
Elizabeth.

Sneyd, Emma, 141.

Sneyd, Honora, 7 ; marries Richard
Lovell Edgeworth, 8. See Edge-
worth, Mrs. Honora.

Sneyd, Mary, 50, 99, 145, 167, 274, 287,
434, 472, 506, 507, 547, 618, 619, 628-
630,. 633, 634, 639; letters to, 84,
101, 122, 131, 132, 199, 228, 308;
letters from Mrs. E., 106, 129.

Sneyd, William, 26.

Socrates, 85.

Somerville, Lord, 219, 223.

Somerville, Mrs., 397,398.

" Somervilles, The Memorie of," 398.

" Somnambule, Le," 353.

Sonna, 177.

Southey, Robert, 517.

Souza, Mme. de, 121.

Sparks, Jared, 640.

Spencer, Lady, 268.

" Spirit of Maritime Discovery, The,"
264.

Sprague, Rev. William B., his visit to
M. E., 622-624.

" Spy, The," 370.

Stael, Mme. de, 173, 188, 218, 226, 231-
233, 252, 260, 261, 264, 273, 280-282,
287, 329, 330, 335, 336, 354-357, 377,
378, 401 ; " Sur 1'Influence des Pas-
sions," 188.

Stael, Mile. Albertine de, marries the
Due de Broglie, 250.

Stael, Auguste Louis, Baron de, 335-
337, 339, 356, 465.

Staffa, Laird of, 441, 443.

Stafford, Lady, 272, 278, 423, 424.

Stafford, Lord, 272, 278.

Standish, Mr., 273.

Stanhope, Earl of, 230.

Stanhope, Lady, 318.

Stark, Mrs., Letters to, 262, 483, 600.

Steamboats, 289.

Stein, Carl, Baron, 354.

Stewart, Col., his pamphlet on India,
493, 494.

Stewart, Dugald, 143, 179, 269, 270.

Stewart, Mrs. Dugald, 143, 149, 269,
270, 438, 439.

Stewart, Col. Matthew, 600-607.

Strickland, Mr., 557, 559, 592.

Strutt, Mr., 206, 207, 250.

Strutt, Edward, 207.

Strutt, George, 207.

Strutt, Joseph, 207.

Stuart, Lady Elizabeth, 295.

Stuart, William, Archbishop of Ar-
magh, 172, 173, 175, 425, 426.

guard, Mme., 104, 108, 116.

Suard, Jean Baptiste Autoine, 104, 329.

Suffield, Lord, 534, 535.

Sully, Due de, 133.

Sunderlin, Lady, 284.

Swetchine, Mme., 314.

704

INDEX

Switzerland, M. E. in, 324-357.
Sylvester, Mr., 207.

"Tableau de Paris," 35.

" Taking for Granted," 476, 484, 485.

Talbot, Col., 404.

Talbot, Mr., son of Lady Talbot de
Malahide, 278.

" Tales of Fashionable Life," 173, 174,
176.

"Tales of Fashionable Life, Second
Series," 190, 191.

Talleyrand, 26J, 294, 518.

Talma, Mme., 95.

Talma, Frangois Joseph, 95, 489.

Telegraph, 40, 41, 42, 48.

Terry-alts, 587, 588.

Tetsworth, 376.

Ticknor, George, on M. E.'s conversa-
tion, 430, 619; extracts from the
life of, 461, 484, 619-621; extract
from a letter from M. E. to, 481 ;
letter to, 633; letter to him and
Mrs. T., 627.

"To-morrow," 68, 152.

" Toys and Tasks," 33, 35, 42.

" Travelers," 432.

Trelawney, Mr., 298.

Trentham, 272, 273.

" Trifle, A," 637.

Trim, 626, 631-635, 651-655, 673, 674,
687.

"Tripoli, Narrative of a Ten Tears'
Residence at the Court of," 253.

Triste, Baron de, 93, 94.

" Trivia," 32, 33.

"Truckleborough Hall," 497, 498.

Trumpington, 218.

Tuam, Archbishop of, 220, 368.

Tuite, Mrs., 168, 169, 177.

Tuite, Peggy, 238, 286, 470, 471. See
Mulheeran, Peggy.

" Two Guardians, The," 254.

Ulick, 571-574.

Uze, Duchesse d', 317.

Valenciennes, 97.

"Valoe,"387, 475.

Vandreuil, Comtesse de, 358.

Veitch, Dr., 559-561.

VentimUle, Mme. de, 308.

Vergennes, Mme. de, 106, 107.

Vernet, Mme., 329.

Vernet, Monsieur, 330.

Versailles, 103.

Villette, Mme. de, 309.

Vincennes, Duo de, 200.

Vinde", Mme. de, 112, 302, 304.

Vind(5, Morel de, 112, 302, 304.

" Vivian," 171.

Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet, 309.

"Voyage dans les Pays Bas par M.

Breton," 90.
"Voyage de troismois en Angleterre,"

79.

Wales, 81-83, 199-204, 372, 373.

Waller, Miss, letters to, 269, 341.

Walpole, Mr., 217, 218.

Ward, Mr., 252.

Ward, R., 252, 253.

Warfield Lodge, 641, 667.

Watson, Bishop, his life, 259.

Watt, James, 276, 277, 290.

Watt, Mrs. James, 276, 277, 289, 290.

Watts, Miss Susanna, 87-89.

" Waverley," 238-244.

" Wealth of Nations," 307.

Weddell, Mrs., 223, 224.

Wedgwood, Josiah, 7, 83.

Wellesley, Lady, 525, 526.

Wellesley, Lady, 158, 159, 162, 163, 169.
See Pakenham, Catherine, and Well-
ington, Lady.

Wellesley, Sir Arthur, 158,' 163. See
Wellington, Duke of.

Wellington, Duke of, 158, 235, 281, 282,
336, 522, 614. See Wellesley, Sir
Arthur.

Wellington, Lady, 189, 190, 193, 219,
220, 237, 280, 281, 520-522, 533, 534,
See Pakenham, Catherine, and Wel-
lesley, Lady.

Westport, 591, 592.

Whately, Archbishop, 680, 681.

" Whim for Whim," a comedy, 65-67.

Whitbread, Lady Elizabeth, 219, 278,
279, 283, 366, 402, 404-406, 518, 660.

White, Miss Lydia, 176-178, 219, 424,
500.

" White Tooths," 41.

Whitworth, Lord, 108, 126.

Wilberforce, William, 279, 376, 377,
399.

Wilbraham, Bootle, 415, 418.

Wilkins, John, D. D., 41.

William IV., 535.

Wilson, Lestock P., 258, 510, 527, 533,
537, 539, 629, 630, 637, 644.

Wilson, Mrs. Lestock P., 515, 521, 523,
526, 527, 529, 537, 538, 546, 552, 629,
633, 644, 655, 657, 662, 666, 667, 670,
671, 686. See Edgeworth, Frances

Wollaston, Dr., 398, 400, 428.
Woods, Robin, 234, 235.
" Word to the Wise, A," 178.
Wordsworth, William, 513, 514.
Worthington, Mrs., 372.
Wriothesley, Lady Rachel, 285.
Wycombe Abbey, 375-379.

Yearsly, Mrs., 23, 24.

York, 141.

York, Duchess of, 20.

Yorkshire farmer, anecdote of, 275,

276.
Yverdun, 337, 338.

" Zoonomia," 139, 149.
Zug, 344-348.

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